Gastroschisis is a congenital malformation in which abdominal organs protrude through an abdominal wall defect, leading to considerable morbidity and mortality during infancy. In contrast to the second class of congenital abdominal wall defects, omphalocele, there is no association of gastroschisis with aneuploidy and there are no familial cohorts or heritability indices to suggest genetic etiology to gastroschisis. Although multiple population and cohort based-studies have implicated various environmental and maternal factors in the pathogenesis of gastroschisis (e.g. young age, smoking), the causes and mechanisms of this condition remain relatively unclear.