The role of spindle dynamics in segregating chromosomes in mammalian oocytes and embryos

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One of the major causes of pregnancy miscarriage, and also the cause of downs syndrome, is a defect in the woman?s egg which means that the egg has too few or too many chromosomes. This defect arises just before the egg is fertilised, when chromosomes which are no longer required by the egg are separated and discarded in a special cell division called meiosis. Errors in this process are thought to occur in about 10-30% of eggs, and become much more likely as the woman gets older. However, it is not known why this is so common in eggs, or why the problem gets worse as women get older. Our approach is to try to understand how chromosomes are normally separated in eggs, to understand why errors are so common. We are beginning to understand that the forces which physically separate the chromosomes are generated differently in eggs than in other cells. We want to better understand this difference between eggs and other cells, to find out whether this might be part of the reason why errors are very common in eggs.