DNA crossovers drive healthy or abnormal sperm/egg cell division
Researchers have uncovered important information about genetic crossovers during sperm and egg cell formation that can influence fertility...
BioNews
Meiosis
The form of cell division by which egg and sperm cells are formed. Unlike normal cell division (mitosis), the number of chromosomes in the resulting cells is half that in the original cells.
50 articles
Book Review: A Century of Geneticists — Mutation to medicine
Sir Isaac Newton's famous quote 'If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants' pays homage to the early scholars whose work paved the way for Newton's own discoveries...
Fertility preservation - the inequity of the law
Societal norms are changing. Men and women are choosing to delay having children for varied reasons including lack of an appropriate partner, career progression and a desire for financial security...
Key gene in making eggs and sperm discovered
Researchers from Kumamoto University in Japan have revealed a potential genetic cause for infertility in a new study published in Developmental Cell...
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
'Rubber band' protein blamed for falling female fertility with age
Decreased fertility and increased risk of miscarriages in older women is linked to a protein involved in egg cell division, scientists say.
Rare genetic quirk twice as common as thought
Inheriting two copies of a chromosome from a single parent is more common than previously thought, according to a new study...
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
A scramble for headlines or an optimistic (sunny side up) contribution to research on fertility preservation?
The problem of fertility preservation for girls and women undergoing cancer treatments has been a subject of research for many decades. The recent study by McLaughlin and colleagues from Professor Evelyn Telfer's lab at the University of Edinburgh, UK, is
Sperm, eggs and embryos: how do we define them as science offers new possibilities?
The Progress Educational Trust (PET)'s Annual Conference 'Crossing Frontiers: Moving the Boundaries of Human Reproduction' discussed some of the most important ethical and scientific questions facing human reproduction. The first session, chaired by Sarah
Preimplantation genetic screening: unvalidated methods discard healthy embryos
A seemingly brilliant hypothesis of preimplantation genetic screening arose in the 1990s when Dr Yuri Verlinsky proposed using polar body biopsies to detect chromosomal abnormalities in embryos prior to transfer in IVF...
Healthy embryos are discarded
Older parents pass down more genetic mutations
Parents pass on more new genetic mutations to their children with age, and fathers pass on more than mothers, according to a study...