Timing germ cell development

Scientists from the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research identify a novel mechanism in early germ cell development. They show how the chromatin modulator PRC1 coordinates the timing of sexual differentiation of germ cells during embryonic development. The study, which enhances our understanding of the mechanisms regulating stem-ness and cell fate determination, is published . Like all Royal houses in Europe prepare their heirs to the throne, the body carefully develops its germ cells specifically and early on for their sole task of propagating the lineage. As the egg and the sperm fuse to form a zygote, a new being, they look back on an extensive "training" that separated them early on from other cells in the developing embryo. During germ cell development, gene expression programs and chromatin states are prepared such that they support embryonic development after fertilization. What is more, the germ cells have to undergo an unusual type of cell division called meiosis to provide the correct set of chromosomes to the embryo.