Now in our 13th year of bringing you beautiful imagery from biomedical science every day

Search the archive of over 4000 images

Growing Gonads
24 February 2018

Growing Gonads

Every second four babies are born worldwide. Their beginnings trace back to their parents' reproductive organs, gonads. Gonads harbour germ cells, which, unlike the rest of the body’s cells with two, contain one set of chromosomes. A critical step in developing healthy gonads is the switch germ cells make from growing their numbers through a process called mitosis to one called meiosis. In fruit flies the protein Bcgn is crucial for this. Researchers now show that male and female mice with a mutant version of the mammalian equivalent protein YTHDC2 are infertile. In male mutants the germ cells in testes attempted meiosis, failed and died. In female mutants, the germ cells in ovaries also failed to survive. The end result: shrunken testes (third panel) and ovaries (fourth panel) compared to normal mice (first and second panels). When it comes to the birds and the bees, YTHDC2 is vital in mammals.

Written by Lux Fatimathas

Search The Archive

Submit An Image

Follow on Tumblr

Follow on Instagram

What is BPoD?

BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

Read More

BPoD is also available in Catalan at www.bpod.cat with translations by the University of Valencia.