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Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology | Published online 10 Feb 2016; doi:10.1038/nrm.2016.12
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BREAKING THE GERM LINESOMA BARRIER
August Weismann proposed that hereditary information moves only from germline to body cells and never in reverse. The concept proposed by Weismann did not support the Lamarckian view of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. However, Weismanns idea of a strict germ line soma barrier can now be challenged with research on mammalian germ cells using induced pluripotent stemcells (iPSCs) derived from somatic cells.
Primordial germ cells, which are the mammalian precursors of sperm and eggs, are set aside early during mouse and human development. Thisearly developmental decision that separates the...