capacity to cause cells (cyt) to fuse together (syn). This effect had been proven with laboratory cell cultures. Fusion of cells into aggregate cell masses with multiple nuclei instead of individual walls is a crucial step in building one layer of the human placenta. That layer, a sort of permeable protoplasmic cushion, is the part of the placenta that mediates between the maternal blood and the fetal blood. (Brace yourself for a fancy bit of lingo: it’s called the syncytiotrophoblast.
