Project description
Sensing-organoids: a new frontier in fertility
Reproductive failure affects one in six couples worldwide, yet the process of an embryo attaching to the womb remains a biological ‘black box’. The ERC-funded babyRADAR project aims to reveal how the mother’s womb selects healthy embryos and senses their presence. By using innovative sensing-organoids – lab-grown tissues that mimic the human uterine environment – researchers will study these interactions using advanced genetic sequencing and genome editing. Additionally, the team will develop miniature nanosensors to monitor embryo health and identify molecular signatures to predict implantation success. Ultimately, this project seeks to transform fertility treatments, offering ground-breaking medical solutions that move beyond guesswork to provide clarity and hope for families globally.
Objective
Human reproductive failure affects one in six couples globally and is a serious global socio-economic concern. Human pregnancy requires implantation of an embryo into the endometrium- yet many unknown or deregulated factors may prevent implantation from occurring. Without understanding the root cause, treating reproductive failure often becomes a guessing game. Most implantation-related events remain uncharted territory, making implantation a true ‘black box’ in biology. The central questions to be addressed in this ERC-proposal, are, firstly how does the human endometrium sense embryos and, secondly how is this selection influenced by the maternal uterine microenvironment. Understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying these maternal-embryonic interactions has been challenging due to practical and ethical limitations, as well as a lack of reliable in vitro models. To address this, I have recently derived three-dimensional (3D) “sensing-organoids” that closely mimics the human endometrium in vivo. Combined with next-generation single-cell sequencing (NGS), live-cell calcium influx measurements, multi-CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and delivery of ivt-mRNA; we propose to (I) integrate maternal-embryonic-phenotypic-proteo-genomic signatures to stratify the risk of implantation failure; (II) reveal to what extent individual embryonic exosomes provide competency clues to the mother and (III) to monitor embryo health using a miniature “micro-cradle” nanosensor. From the breakthroughs from this project, we are poised on the cusp of a new set of profound ground-breaking discoveries. The novel methods and approaches developed herein will accelerate scientific knowledge in all applied medical fields that will open new avenues for both the individual and society at large.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Topic(s)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2025-COG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
72074 Tuebingen
Germany
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