Failure of chromosomal organization within human egg and sperm cells result in miscarriages and infertility. However, the mechanisms controlling these processes are not understood. The discovery of a ...

Who hasn't seen it before: the view through the microscope in which a sperm penetrates an egg cell and fertilizes it. This fundamental step in procreation happens dynamically and seemingly without ...

Female mammals are born with all the egg cells they will ever have in their ovaries. Some of these cells therefore live for a long time – and must remain functional throughout this period. Experiments ...

After fertilisation, the egg cell (purple) releases zinc ions (blue dots), which changes the shape of the green protein on the surface of a sperm. As a result, the sperm can no longer dock to the egg ...

Xenopus is a type of frog that is commonly used as a model organism in biological research, and their eggs develop outside of the body, making them especially good for studying development.

Researchers have found a new, dynamic protein structure in cells. Every cell contains millions of protein molecules. Some of them have the ability to phase-separate to form non-membrane-bound ...