Fishing games gone wrong: Trial-and-error behind important cause of female infertility
Thursday, August 18, 2011 - 21:30
in Biology & Nature
When an egg cell is being formed, the cellular machinery which separates chromosomes is extremely imprecise at fishing them out of the cell's interior, scientists have discovered. The findings could explain why errors in the number of chromosomes in the egg cell are the leading cause of miscarriages and severe congenital diseases like Down's syndrome, as well as causing female infertility.