Members of two departments collaborated to publish a new study entitled “RNA Sequencing-Based Analysis of the Laying Hen Uterus Revealed the Novel Genes and Biological Pathways Involved in the Eggshell” in the prestigious journal Nature Scientific Report. In this study, co-authors Nirvay Sah, Birendra Mishra, and Rajesh Jha (all HNFAS) and Donna Lee Kuehu (MBBE) discussed novel genes that are involved in the regulation of egg formation in poultry. As the authors explain, the eggshell is crucial: it protects the egg from microbial invasion and physical damage and is critical for egg quality. However, understanding of the genes/proteins and the biological pathways regulating the eggshell formation is still obscure. This publication takes a big step towards understanding them! The study is a part of Nirvay’s thesis work as a grad student. Here he is pictured (right) with his mentor Birendra. For this work, Nirvay was also given the award for best poster presentation at the 2018 Poultry Science Association Meeting in July.