New work from UC Davis and the University of Utah shows how the 3D structure of DNA inside a germ cell commits it to develop into a sperm cell. The discovery could improve understanding of fertility ...

Neil Hunter, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has discovered a crucial step in how chromosomes stay connected during the development for egg cells and sperm, ...

The day when human sperm and eggs can be grown in the laboratory has inched a step closer, with the discovery of a way to recreate a crucial developmental step in a dish 1. “Epigenetic reprogramming ...

The image shows centromeres (white) at the edge of the nucleus (blue) shortly before meiosis begins in a mouse germ cell (Huang et al., 2026). In our cells, our DNA carries chemical or ‘epigenetic’ ...

The earliest days after fertilization, once a sperm cell meets an egg, are shrouded in scientific mystery. The process of how a humble single cell becomes an organism fascinates scientists across ...

Scientists have uncovered how certain “selfish” genes cheat the normal rules of inheritance by destroying rival sperm cells. The discovery helps explain a long-standing mystery in genetics about how ...

Human fertility hinges on a delicate molecular ballet that begins even before birth. UC Davis researchers have uncovered how special protein networks safeguard chromosomes as eggs and sperm form, ...

An egg cell and a sperm need to hold together tightly in the Fallopian tube in order to fuse, resulting in the creation of a new organism. One key part of this process involves the proteins Juno, on ...