Editing David C. Page (section)

===The genetics of germ cells===
Page used the mouse as a model to study the genetics of [[Meiosis|meiotic]] initiation, showing that [[retinoic acid]] (RA) is the key factor which induces meiosis, as well as identifying several important genes crucial to the meiotic initiation pathway, including Stra8 and [[DAZL]].<ref>{{Cite journal|title = In germ cells of mouse embryonic ovaries, the decision to enter meiosis precedes premeiotic DNA replication|journal = Nature Genetics|date = 2006-12-01|issn = 1061-4036|pmid = 17115059|pages = 1430–1434|volume = 38|issue = 12|doi = 10.1038/ng1919|first1 = Andrew E.|last1 = Baltus|first2 = Douglas B.|last2 = Menke|first3 = Yueh-Chiang|last3 = Hu|first4 = Mary L.|last4 = Goodheart|first5 = Anne E.|last5 = Carpenter|first6 = Dirk G.|last6 = de Rooij|first7 = David C.|last7 = Page|s2cid = 17258424}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Germ Cell-Intrinsic and -Extrinsic Factors Govern Meiotic Initiation in Mouse Embryos|journal = Science|date = 2008-12-12|issn = 0036-8075|pmid = 19074348|pages = 1685–1687|volume = 322|issue = 5908|doi = 10.1126/science.1166340|language = en|first1 = Yanfeng|last1 = Lin|first2 = Mark E.|last2 = Gill|first3 = Jana|last3 = Koubova|first4 = David C.|last4 = Page|bibcode = 2008Sci...322.1685L|s2cid = 11261341}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Retinoic acid regulates sex-specific timing of meiotic initiation in mice|journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date = 2006-02-21|issn = 0027-8424|pmc = 1413806|pmid = 16461896|pages = 2474–2479|volume = 103|issue = 8|doi = 10.1073/pnas.0510813103|language = en|first1 = Jana|last1 = Koubova|first2 = Douglas B.|last2 = Menke|first3 = Qing|last3 = Zhou|first4 = Blanche|last4 = Capel|first5 = Michael D.|last5 = Griswold|first6 = David C.|last6 = Page|bibcode = 2006PNAS..103.2474K|doi-access = free}}</ref> Page further discovered that the differentiation germ cells into [[gametocyte]]s ([[oocyte]]s in females or [[spermatocyte]]s in males) does not depend on meiotic initiation, as commonly thought, showing that germ cells deficient in Stra8, a gene that activates the meiotic pathway, are still capable of growth and differentiation.<ref>{{Cite journal|title = Periodic retinoic acid-STRA8 signaling intersects with periodic germ-cell competencies to regulate spermatogenesis|journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|date = 2015-05-05|issn = 1091-6490|pmc = 4426408|pmid = 25902548|pages = E2347–2356|volume = 112|issue = 18|doi = 10.1073/pnas.1505683112|first1 = Tsutomu|last1 = Endo|first2 = Katherine A.|last2 = Romer|first3 = Ericka L.|last3 = Anderson|first4 = Andrew E.|last4 = Baltus|first5 = Dirk G.|last5 = de Rooij|first6 = David C.|last6 = Page|bibcode = 2015PNAS..112E2347E|doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title = Oocyte differentiation is genetically dissociable from meiosis in mice|journal = Nature Genetics|date = 2013-08-01|issn = 1061-4036|pmc = 3747777|pmid = 23770609|pages = 877–883|volume = 45|issue = 8|doi = 10.1038/ng.2672|language = en|first1 = Gregoriy A.|last1 = Dokshin|first2 = Andrew E.|last2 = Baltus|first3 = John J.|last3 = Eppig|first4 = David C.|last4 = Page}}</ref>