Respiratory distress syndrome is due to a defect in the biosynthesis of

Causes. RDS is a type of neonatal respiratory disease that is caused most often by a lack of surfactant in the lungs. A fetus's lungs sta making surfactant during the third trimester of pregnancy, or weeks 26 through labor and delivery. Surfactant coats the insides of the air sacs, or alveoli, in the lungs. Ref: guyton and hall textbook of medical physiology 12 edition page number:312,313,314