Description
Book SynopsisA concise primer that complicates a convenient truth in biologythe divide between germ and somatic cellswith far-reaching ethical and public policy ramifications. Scientists have long held that we have two kinds of cellsgerm and soma. Make a change to germ cellssay using genome editingand that change will appear in the cells of future generations. Somatic cells are safe after such tampering; modify your skin cells, and your future children's skin cells will never know. And, while germ cells can give rise to new generations (including all of the somatic cells in a body), somatic cells can never become germ cells. How did scientists discover this relationship and distinction between somatic and germ cellsthe so-called Weismann Barrierand does it actually exist? Can somatic cells become germ cells in the way germ cells become somatic cells? That is, can germ cells regenerate from somatic cells even though conventional wisdom denies this possibility? Covering research from the late nin
Trade Review“Excellent. A truly original take on the history of the Weismann Barrier and how it developed into a questionable assumption that forms the basis of various modern concepts about germ cells and regeneration.” -- Hanna Lucia Worliczek, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
“We need to see regeneration as a window into the world of biology in general, and the complex feedback loops that decide what grows, divides and dies, where and when.” -- Simon Ings * New Scientist, on "What Is Regeneration?" *
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1 Uncovering Assumptions That Have Shaped Germ Cell Science
2 Backgrounding Conflicts within Germ Cell Science
3 Challenging Assumptions in Germline Science
4 Implications of Reenvisioning Germline Regeneration
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
