This is a fluorescence microscopy image of a cell undergoing meiosis. During meiosis, the egg (in cyan) halves its set of chromosomes (in grey) before fertilisation. This reduction is critical for sexual reproduction, allowing the fertilised egg to have a complete set of chromosomes, with half contributed by each parent.

Since the 1950s, scientists have sought to understand how eggs assemble a specialised structure known as the spindle apparatus differently compared to normal body cells. The spindle apparatus is crucial for correctly dividing the cell's genetic material so that each daughter cell receives the appropriate number of chromosomes.

This picture shows the new discovery of a liquid-like spindle domain (in green), a space without a membrane that contains microtubule regulatory factors and is required for spindle assembly and accurate chromosome segregation in mammalian eggs.

Dr So is currently an assistant investigator at the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing.