Human genetic diversity wouldn't be possible without DNA crossovers in egg and sperm cells. Two studies provide new insights into how crossovers go right -- and wrong, leading to infertility, ...

Neil Hunter, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, has discovered a crucial step in how chromosomes stay connected during the development for egg cells and sperm, ...

The biological research of UC Santa Cruz’s Needhi Bhalla to determine the molecular motions at the heart of heredity has yielded a new discovery: The proper transfer of genetic materials depends on ...

A new discovery explains what determines the number and position of genetic exchanges that occur in sex cells, such as pollen and eggs in plants, or sperm and eggs in humans. A new discovery explains ...

In most higher organisms, including humans, every cell carries two versions of each gene, which are referred to as alleles. Each parent passes on one allele to each offspring. As they are linked ...

When a woman becomes pregnant, the outcome of that pregnancy depends on many things — including a crucial event that happened while she was still growing inside her own mother’s womb. It depends on ...