The First 3D Map of an Ovary Suggests a Hidden System Controls Egg Activation

Researchers have developed a 3D map of an ovary for the first time, enabling a deeper understanding of how and when oocytes — immature eggs — are activated. Published in the journal Nature Aging, the team believes their findings have important implications for human reproductive health, as well as opening the door to future studies.

Researchers used high-resolution microscopy and artificial intelligence to count individual oocytes within mouse ovaries across their lifespan. This enabled them to develop a three-dimensional map of the changes in the ovary over time. In total, they analyzed over 85,000 oocytes from 100 mouse ovaries.

“We measured the number and position of every single oocyte in the ovary across the reproductive lifespan of the mouse,” Elvan Böke, group leader at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona and senior author of the study, told Discover.

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