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Nature 427, 495-497 (5 February 2004) | doi:10.1038/427495a
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Cell division: Guardian spirit blesses meiosis
Robin Allshire1
Abstract
During egg and sperm production, the two copies of a duplicated chromosome must be bound together until it is time for their separation. A protein that protects this chromosomal glue has now been discovered.
It is estimated that about 20% of human eggs have an abnormal number of chromosomes, and it is well known that the incidence of fetuses with three copies of some chromosomes — rather than the usual two — increases markedly with the age of the mother1, 2. The fact that human eggs can arrest in the early stages of their creation for up to 45 years is clearly a factor.
- Robin Allshire is at The Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK.
Email: robin.allshire@ed.ac.uk
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