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January 30, 2009

Strange But True!

Q. They can weigh more than half a kilogram (about a pound), tasting a bit like a piece of veal and with recipes available for making them up into “meat” loaf, even smoothies. So why have vegetarians taken such a fancy to them? Clue: Tom Cruise famously announced his intention to eat one.

A. Cruise was talking about his expectant wife's placenta, Nature's remarkable organ for the developing fetus that acts as substitute lungs, stomach, liver, bladder, says Katherine Robertson of the University of Cambridge, UK, in New Scientist. Cells known as trophoblasts hijack the maternal blood system to provide the baby with needed oxygen and nutrients, serving as a protective barrier against Mom's immune system that might otherwise reject the growing mass.


 
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