The identification of critical male meiosis genes in mice and men

Abstract

One in twenty men in the Western world are infertile and for a large percentage there is no known cause. Male fertility is coordinated by that action of ~2,300 genes and theoretically mutations in any one of these genes could lead to infertility. Of all the time required to make a sperm cell, one-third is devoted to meiosis. It is during this phase of spermatogenesis that homologous chromosomes must synapse, recombine and correctly dissociate. Failure to accurately complete meiosis produces aneuploid or absent gametes, which can cause problems with embryonic development or infertility respectively. We are taking a two-pronged approach to identify key genes involved in male meiosis. Firstly, ..