Verena Jantsch’s lab has a longstanding interest in the ordered-side-by-side alignment of homologous chromosomes, which takes place during the prolonged prophase of the first meiotic division. During this stage chromosomes adopt a highly dynamic behavior. The Jantsch lab uses the simple animal model system Caenorhabditis elegans with all its advantages to study meiotic processes (simple forward-reverse genetics, transparency and the cytologically accessible time course of meiosis).