Genetic mutations in the ZP proteins (ZP1-4) can lead to ZP thinning or loss, resulting in infertility in patients (Mannikko et al., 2005; Dai et al., 2019; Yuan et al., 2019; Cao et al., 2020; Luo et al., 2020; Okutman et al., 2020; Wassarman and Litscher, 2021; Loeuillet et al., 2022; Shen et al., 2022; Pujalte et al., 2023). The gene discussed is HEPHL1; the disease is Infertility.