Meiosis: Chromosomes Dance And Pair Up On The Nuclear Membrane
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 - 22:35
in Biology & Nature
Meiosis -- the pairing and recombination of chromosomes, followed by segregation of half to each egg or sperm cell -- is a major crossroads in all organisms reproducing sexually. Yet, how the cell precisely choreographs these chromosomal interactions is a long-standing question. New findings show that the cell's cytoskeleton, which moves things around in the cell, plays a critical role, essentially reaching into the nucleus to bring chromosome pairs together in preparation for recombination and segregation.