Embryonic germ cells are pluripotent cells derived in the laboratory from primordial germ cells, the early cells that later give rise to sperm and egg cells.[1]
Rethinking Germ Cells | Video
Embryonic germ cells are believed to mimic the properties of embryonic stem cells.
Germ cells are essentially very specialized cells that are crucial in reproduction and in regenerative medicine. Gametes, the sperm and egg cells, combine to form a zygote that develops into a human embryo and then a fetus. Germ cells also include earlier precursor cells, such as primordial germ cells and gonocytes, which develop into the cells that later produce sperm.[2]
All germ cells in the body carry the germline. The germline is the lineage of cells that passes genetic material from one generation to the next. Primordial and embryonic germ cells are diploid, carrying two sets of chromosomes, and only mature gametes (sperm and eggs) are haploids, carrying one set. When a sperm and an egg combine at fertilization, their single sets of chromosomes join to form a diploid zygote that divides repeatedly into daughter cells and eventually develops into a baby.[3]
Published Clinical Citations
[1] ^ Matsumura H, Tada M, Otsuji T, Yasuchika K, Nakatsuji N, Surani A, Tada T. Targeted chromosome elimination from ES-somatic hybrid cells. Nature Methods. 2007;4:23–25.
[2] ^ Wilmut I, Beaujean N, de Sousa PA, Dinnyes A, King TJ, Paterson LA, Wells DN, Young LE. Somatic cell nuclear transfer. Nature. 2002;419:583–586
[3] ^ Molyneaux KA, Zinszner H, Kunwar PS, Scaible K, Stebler J, Sunshine MJ, O’Brien W, Raz E, Littman D, Wylie C, Lehmann R. The chamokine SDF1/CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 regulate mouse germ cell migration and survival. Development. 2003;13:4279–4286.