A fork in the road to fertility

Haploinsufficiency of FOXL2, a new forkhead transcription factor, causes bl epharophimosis/ptosis/epicanthus inversus syndrome (BPES), a rare developme ntal disorder affecting the eyelid and sometimes the ovary. A new study imp licates FOXL2 as the first human gene required for the maintenance of ovari an follicles, The discovery of FOXL2 may provide insight into the causes of idiopathic premature ovarian failure, a disease that burdens many infertil e couple.