It is well established that maternal age is associated with a rapid decline in the production of
healthy and high-quality oocytes resulting in reduced fertility in women older than 35 years …

Eggs and sperm develop through a specialized cell division called meiosis. During meiosis,
the number of chromosomes is reduced by two sequential divisions in preparation for …

Meiosis is one of the defining events in gametogenesis. Male and female germ cells both
undergo one round of meiotic cell division during their development in order to reduce the …

In most organisms, genome haploidization requires reciprocal DNA exchanges (crossovers)
between replicated parental homologs to form bivalent chromosomes. These are resolved to …

Down syndrome (DS) originates, in most of the cases (95%), from a full trisomy of
chromosome 21. The remaining cases are due to either mosaicism for chromosome 21 or …

Meiosis is the cellular program that underlies gamete formation. For this program,
crossovers between homologous chromosomes play an essential mechanical role to ensure …

Almost 15 years ago it was hypothesized that polymorphisms of genes encoding enzymes
involved in folate metabolism could lead to aberrant methylation of peri-centromeric regions …

Follicular microenvironment is paramount in the acquisition of oocyte competence, which is
dependent on two interconnected and interdependent processes: nuclear and cytoplasmic …

Aneuploidy is a leading genetic cause of birth defects and lower implantation rates in
humans. Most errors in chromosome number originate from oocytes. Aneuploidy in oocytes …

Human nondisjunction errors in oocytes are the leading cause of pregnancy loss, and for
pregnancies that continue to term, the leading cause of intellectual disabilities and birth …