In human cells, DNA carries chemical or "epigenetic" marks that decide how genes will be used in different tissues. Yet in a ...

In the choreography of meiosis—the process responsible for sex cell division in all eukaryotic life—the pairing of homologous chromosomes (homologs) is essential. Errors in this process can lead to an ...

A research team at the IPK Leibniz Institute has developed a method that enables the detailed observation of female ...

Meiosis is essential to sexual reproduction. For almost 15 years, it has been commonly held that retinoic acid, a molecule derived from vitamin A, triggers meiosis in mammalian germ cells. Yet new ...

Editor’s note: First-year students, prospective students (and some of their parents) wonder and worry how they will handle the academic transition from high school to college. In a series of stories, ...

High-resolution images show excess DNA double-strand breaks formed in DEHP-exposed nuclei destined to become egg cells. Mid-pachytene nuclei (chromosomes in blue) in germlines dissected from control ...

Researchers at the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences (LMS) and Imperial College London have shown for the first time that, before they can start developing into egg and sperm cells, the embryonic ...