Advances and Surprises in a Decade of Oocyte Meiosis Research

Eggs are produced from progenitor oocytes through meiotic cell division. Fidelity of meiosis is critical for healthy embryogenesis – fertilisation of aneuploid eggs that contain the wrong number of chromosomes is a leading cause of genetic disorders including Down’s syndrome, human embryo deaths and infertility. Incidence of meiosis-related oocyte and egg aneuploidies increases dramatically with advancing maternal age, which further complicates the ‘meiosis problem’. We have just emerged from a decade of meiosis research that was packed with exciting and transformative research. This minireview will focus primarily on studies of mechanisms that directly influence chromosome segregation.