Of worms and women

摘要

Female mammals are not alone in experiencing an age-related increase in birth defects and decline in fertility; the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans faces similar reproductive challenges in mid-adulthood. Writing in Cell, Luo et al. report that, in C. elegans, the age-related decline in oocyte (egg) quality and increase in chromosomal abnormalities are regulated by evolutionarily conserved signal-transduction pathways.