Egg cells need to store large amounts of proteins and other molecules to support the earliest stages of development. But how do they organize this supply? Egg cells have a dedicated storage system, ...

The sperm and the egg cell's nuclei compete for size directly after fertilization and this is necessary for proper embryonic ...

An international research team led by the IPK Leibniz Institute has succeeded in generating haploids in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana very efficiently. This process involves degrading 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 ...

The new method offers researchers a powerful new platform to investigate the molecular mechanisms that control oogenesis, the process by which egg cells develop, and lays important groundwork for ...

A snapshot from a simulation of how microtubules bend and direct material in a maturing egg cell into a twister-like flow. Egg cells are the largest single cells on the planet. Their size — often ...

A human female is born with all the egg cells she will ever have. The possibility for the development of new oocytes is zero. Given this constraint, it is crucial that these gametes remain healthy and ...