For a long time the only explanation for infertility, miscarriages and birth defects such Down’s syndrome of babies born to women in their mid 30s and 40s had been eggs with the wrong number of chromosomes.

The reason for this abnormal number of chromosomes is what had kept science from totally helping women give birth to their very own, healthy babies.

Recently, the reason for these abnormal number of chromosomes in women’s eggs had been discovered.

Declining levels of cohesins, a protein essential for chromosomes to split evenly when cells divide, is the culprit.

While drugs to “up” the cohesin levels of older women is still to be developed scientists point out that this is a significant finding since they now know what to target.

Girls are born with immature eggs that will last for their entire reproductive life.  Each immature egg contains two sets of 23 chromosomes.  Before fertilization ‘ripening’ happens during meiosis in which half of these chromosomes are ejected.  If ejection goes wrong, an egg can be left with the wrong number of chromosomes.  Declining levels of cohesins is the culprit.

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