germ line

British  

noun

1. the lineage of cells culminating in the germ cells

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Example Sentences

Perhaps, in human culture, and especially in the transmission of ideas through language, we have already created a new germ line, one that transcends individuals and even DNA.

From The Wall Street Journal

Over the course of human evolution, we’ve been exposed to so many that about 8 percent of the human genome is made up of retroviral DNA sequences that have inserted themselves into the human germ line, often to our benefit.

From New York Times

But for years, the consensus was that no scientist would go so far as to edit a gene in the germ line — human sperm, eggs or embryos — given both the possible dangers to any resulting child, and the unresolved ethical issues involved in making heritable changes.

From Nature

GRC, in contrast, is “an obligatory element in the germ line of song birds,” Larkin says.

From Scientific American

Nielsen hopes that his team’s error does not dissuade others from using databases such as the UK Biobank to understand the effects of editing the human germ line, the DNA that can be passed on to future generations.

From Nature