After fertilisation, the egg cell (purple) releases zinc ions (blue dots), which changes the shape of the green protein on the surface of a sperm. As a result, the sperm can no longer dock to the egg ...

When mammals have offspring, they invest a lot. Unlike fish or frogs, the embryo cannot develop on its own. It has to implant in the uterus, where it is supplied with everything it needs to survive.

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 ...

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 ...

Once a sperm has broken through to an egg cell in order to fertilize it, the two cells need to hold together tightly. This occurs via a type of protein binding that is among the strongest in ...

Early lab work shows reprogrammed skin cells can yield embryos, hinting at future infertility solutions but raising safety questions that demand more study. Infertility affects millions of people ...