Geetu Tuteja is diving into the genetic development of the placenta. The computational tools her lab creates support other researchers worldwide.
Geetu Tuteja has always enjoyed puzzles — especially ones that fuse her passion for computer science and medical research. At Iowa State University, Tuteja is studying one of the most unique puzzles in human biology: the placenta.
“It’s the only temporary organ — it forms during pregnancy, and then it’s gone after birth. In that short time, it takes on so many roles, acting like the lungs, liver, and kidneys for the fetus, before any of those fetal organs develop,” says Tuteja, Iowa State professor of genetics, development, and cell biology.
Little is known about the placenta’s development throughout pregnancy. Tuteja’s research into its genetic development earned her the 2025 Bailey Research Career Development Award, established by the estate of Carl A. and Grace A. Bailey to support high-risk and high-impact scientific research at Iowa State. Her research could have long-term implications for the detection and treatment of pregnancy disorders such as preeclampsia.
Creating cutting-edge research tools
In the meantime, the computational tools developed by Tuteja and her team are also empowering laboratories far beyond campus. One such tool developed in Tuteja’s lab allows users to determine whether a set of genes is specifically expressed in certain tissues using publicly available gene expression datasets.
— Geetu Tuteja
That tool has simplified a common and often complex step in genomic analysis, enabling researchers across disciplines to more easily identify tissue-specific gene expression patterns. By making these tools user-friendly and freely available, Tuteja’s lab is supporting scientific discovery well beyond their own focus on placental development.
“These experiences deepened my appreciation for developing flexible tools. That’s something that guides my lab work now. We make sure that what we develop can be broadly applied,” Tuteja says. “In basic medical research, it can take many years before you see real-world impact. But seeing students grow, both as scientists and as people, and knowing you’ve helped shape that journey is a more immediate kind of impact. That motivates me.”
