A germ cell is any cell that gives rise to the gametes of an organism that reproduces sexually. In many animals, the germ cells originate in the primitive streak and migrate via the gut of an embryo to the developing gonads. There, they undergo meiosis, followed by cellular differentiation into mature gametes, either eggs or sperm.

2008年2月22日 · Germ cells are the only cell type capable of generating an entirely new organism. In order to execute germline-specific functions and to retain the capacity for totipotency, germ cells repress somatic differentiation, interact with a specialized microenvironment, and use germline-specific networks of RNA regulation.

生殖细胞（germ cell）是多细胞生物体内能繁殖后代的细胞的总称，包括从原始生殖细胞直到最终已分化的生殖细胞（精子和卵细胞），其中包含一条性染色体。

Germ cells are a source of totipotency and an enduring link between generations, ensuring the transmission of genetic as well as epigenetic information to successive generations. This contrasts with somatic cells, which die away after differentiation and …

relation to germ plasm. In germ-plasm theory …is the essential element of germ cells (eggs and sperm) and is the hereditary material that is passed from generation to generation. Weismann first proposed this theory in 1883; it was later published in his treatise Das Keimplasma (1892; The Germ-Plasm: A Theory of Heredity). This view ...

2012年10月9日 · Germ cells represent the closest in vivo equivalent to in vitro pluripotent stem cell systems; understanding germ cell biology will provide new insights into the nature of pluripotency. Abstract

Germ cells are the origin of individual organisms and the carriers of hereditary information and genetic diversity. Since mammalian germ cells are differentiated from the same developmental origin as somatic lineages, they reset their genome to acquire totipotency, the ability to form the next generation in a comprehensive manner.

1999年1月22日 · In this sense, germ cells are the stem cells of the species, since they give rise to organisms rather than organs. They are the means by which species form and change in evolution. In humans (as well as other animals), they are also the vehicles for inherited diseases.

2017年7月25日 · The main difference between somatic cells and germ cells is that somatic cells are involved in building the body of multicellular animals whereas germ cells are involved in producing haploid gametes, which participate in sexual reproduction. The somatic mutations do not pass through generations since they are not involved in the sexual ...

How do germ cells become epigenetically different from somatic cells, and how do germ cells navigate the process of erasing and then resetting their imprinted marks?