Reproductive genes can delay menopause in some women for 3 years

In 10 seconds? It is a common story that women are born with all the eggs they will carry and that those eggs will be gradually "lost". But how fast? A new discovery shows that more than 290 genes influence ovarian aging, determining who will stay fertile longer.

Could you first explain "egg formation"? In women, ovaries produce and store oocytes (these are the immature eggs or the ovum) and hormones to control your menstrual cycle. During uterine life, oocytes are formed in the ovaries, so a woman will be born with all the oocytes she will ever have. Then, during puberty, young women start to ovulate and menstruate (two associated but different events), and this process is repeated each month. With age, a natural decline of fertility happens in women's lives, and menopause will occur once most of the eggs are gone, usually after 45 years of age.