New findings about how a human egg matures may help prevent infertility and birth defects

Physiological changes known to trigger miscarriages and to increase the likelihood of carrying a child with a genetic condition start in a woman’s early 20s, possibly earlier, and continue progressively through to her 40s, says Dr Agata Zielinska, a cell biologist at the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen, Germany.