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bilsbieyesterday at 8:04 PM3 repliesview on HN

I never bought into the egg thing. There’s clearly a distinct cell in the center that’s going to divide and grow inside the egg. The egg itself isn’t undergoing mitosis.


Replies

al_borlandyesterday at 8:29 PM

I had to go look this up, as I had heard the egg thing my whole life and just accepted it.

It turns out the oocyte is the single cell inside the egg, which for birds is significantly larger than a typical cell. So in that respect, the cell in a bird egg is very large. However, compared to the egg itself, it's tiny. The yolk and whites in the egg are all to provide nutrients as it grows, if fertilized.

saulpwyesterday at 8:24 PM

The yolk is an energy/vitamin source, not a 'cell'. The division happens outside the yolk.

From Wikipedia:

> The yolk is not living cell material like protoplasm, but largely passive material

ErroneousBoshyesterday at 8:59 PM

One of the fascinating things about biology I think is this - that if the cells of your body were the size of an egg, they'd be way, way too big and you'd probably die.

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