The egg-to-embryo transition: molecular basis and developmental control

卵母细胞(或卵子)具有惊人的特性，当它与精子受精时，它可以产生一个新的个体。卵子如何转化为胚胎仍然是生物学的重大谜团之一，也是世界各地密集研究的焦点。科学家们多年来一直知道，发育中的卵子积累了大量的线粒体，线粒体是细胞质中的细胞器，为保持细胞的活动和生命提供能量。这种大量的供应是必不可少的，因为新胚胎不会产生线粒体，因此完全依赖于受精时继承的供应。然而，后来，胚胎开始制造线粒体。然而，我们对卵母细胞如何制造线粒体，为什么早期胚胎不制造线粒体，以及较老的胚胎如何重新启动制造过程几乎一无所知。我们研究的目标是了解卵母细胞和胚胎是如何制造线粒体的。由于所有细胞都有线粒体，我们希望我们的结果也能帮助其他领域的研究人员。

The oocyte (or egg) possesses the astonishing property that, when fertilized by a sperm, it can give rise to a new individual. How the egg is converted to an embryo remains one of the great mysteries of biology and is the focus of intense research around the world. Scientists have known for many years that the developing egg accumulates an enormous store of mitochondria, which are organelles in the cytoplasm that provide the energy to keep cells active and alive. This large supply is essential because the new embryo does not make mitochondria and so relies entirely on the supply that it inherits at fertilization. Later, however, the embryo begins to make mitochondria. We know almost nothing however of how the oocyte manufactures mitochondria, why the early embryo doesn't, and how older embryos restart the manufacturing process. The goal of our research is to learn how oocytes and embryos make mitochondria. Since all cells have mitochondria, we hope that our results will help researchers in other fields as well.