Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The error-prone step at the heart of making an embryo

High-resolution imaging shows why the union between two sets of chromosomes goes awry as least as often as not.
Light micrograph of a human egg cell during fertilisation

As a human egg cell is fertilized, two chromosome-containing cellular structures (dotted circles, centre) merge into one — a process that often goes wrong. Credit: Pascal Goetgheluck/Science Photo Library

After a sperm fertilizes an egg, the chromosomes of both unite into a single genome, if all goes according to plan. Now, observations of developing embryos show that this all-important process often goes awry — a finding that helps to explain why at least half of newly formed human embryos have the wrong number of chromosomes.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 593, 170 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01207-4

References

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

  • Postdoctoral Position

    We are seeking highly motivated and skilled candidates for postdoctoral fellow positions

    Boston, Massachusetts (US)

    Boston Children's Hospital (BCH)

  • Qiushi Chair Professor

    Distinguished scholars with notable achievements and extensive international influence.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • ZJU 100 Young Professor

    Promising young scholars who can independently establish and develop a research direction.

    Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Zhejiang University

  • Head of the Thrust of Robotics and Autonomous Systems

    Reporting to the Dean of Systems Hub, the Head of ROAS is an executive assuming overall responsibility for the academic, student, human resources...

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)

  • Head of Biology, Bio-island

    Head of Biology to lead the discovery biology group.

    Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    BeiGene Ltd.

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links