For the first cell to develop into an entire organism, genes, RNA molecules and proteins have to work together in a complex way. At first, this process is indirectly controlled by the mother. At a certain point in time, the protein GRIF-1 ensures that the offspring cut themselves off from this influence and start their own course of development. A research team from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) details how this process works in the journal Science Advances.

When a new organism starts to develop, the mother calls the shots. During fertilization, the egg cell and sperm fuse to form a single new cell. However, the course of cell division, and thus how a new living being forms, is initially determined by the mother cell.

“Regardless of the organism, cell division is initially pre-programmed by the mother,” explains geneticist Professor Christian Eckmann from MLU. The mother’s cell provides a developmental starter set that includes the first proteins as well as the RNA molecules that serve as blueprints for further proteins. All this is necessary to jump start cell division and an organism’s development.

Even worms have a ticking fertility clock. Older worms are less efficient at repairing broken DNA strands while making egg cells—part of a process that’s essential for fertility. A new study from University of Oregon (UO) biologists suggests one possible reason that reproduction slows with age.

Researchers from the lab of Diana Libuda report the findings in a paper published Nov. 7 in PLOS Genetics.

Each sperm or egg cell has only half the number of chromosomes found in a regular cell. During meiosis, the cell division process that forms sperm and eggs, the parent cells must evenly divide their DNA. The costs of error can be high, since incorrectly divided chromosomes are a major cause of birth defects.

The announcement comes from the journal Science, which published Phase 1 results of a small clinical trial for a vaccine technology that aims to cause the body to create a rare kind of cell.

“At the most general level, the trial results show that one can design vaccines that induce antibodies with pre-specified genetic features, and this may herald a new era of precision vaccines,” William Schief, PhD, a researcher at The Scripps Research Institute and study co-author, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

The study was the first to test the approach in humans and was effective in 97% – or 35 of 36 – participants. The vaccine technology is called “germline targeting.” Trial results show that “one can design a vaccine that elicits made-to-order antibodies in humans,” Schief said in a news release.