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Images reveal secrets of zinc sparks

Detailed imaging and mapping techniques capture atoms shooting from mouse egg cell

egg meets sperm

GOOD SHOT  When egg meets sperm, billions of zinc atoms (yellow) shoot from thousands of small pouches that sit beneath the surface (green) of a mouse egg cell.

Northwestern Univ.

By Ashley Yeager

- More than 2 years ago

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When egg meets sperm in mammals, zinc sparks fly. These sparks are created when billions of zinc atoms shoot from thousands of small pouches nestled just beneath the surface of a mouse egg cell, researchers from Northwestern University and Argonne National Laboratory report December 15 in Nature Chemistry.