Fluorescent microscopic image of glowing nematodes, likely *C. elegans*, displaying intricate, vibrant blue structures against a black background.
Researchers in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology are using the tiny C. elegans worm to eavesdrop on the delicate process of maternal egg cell development. The animal has only 959 cells; it has no heart, lungs, or circulatory system. But many of the genes that control its egg maturation, meiosis, and embryonic development are closely related to those in humans. (Shutterstock)

Transparent Worms with Glowing Proteins May Help Fertility Treatments

A lowly worm reveals secrets of human reproduction

  • by Douglas Fox

The development of maternal egg cells is pivotal for survival – but also precarious. During meiosis, the DNA-containing chromosomes can easily be broken or lost, causing infertility, miscarriage, or genetic disorders. Scientists have struggled to study these crucial cellular events in humans and other mammals.

“The ovaries are opaque, you cannot see inside them,” said Francis McNally, a professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Scientists usually have to study cells outside the body, and hope that they’re seeing the normal, natural process. But McNally is taking a different approach. He is eavesdropping on egg development as it unfolds inside the mother –  mother worms, to be exact.

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