Germ CeUs

Another interesting sperm specific antigen is lactic dehydrogenase-x (LDH-x or LDHC, an isoenzyme of LDH confined to male germ ceUs. 

Somatic cells AU the body ceUs except the reproductive (germ) ceUs. [nih]... 

Somatic mutations Alterations in DNA that occur after conception. Somatic mutations can occur in any of the ceUs of the body except the germ ceUs (sperm and egg) and therefore are not passed on to chUdren. These alterations can (but do not always) cause cancer or other diseases, [nih]... 

Olsen AK, Bjortuft H, Wiger R et al. (2001) Highly efficient base excision repair (BER) in human and rat male germ ceUs. Nucleic Acids Res 29 1781-90 CoUins A, Cadet J, Epe B, Gedik C (1997) Problems in the measurement of 8-oxogua-nine in human DNA. Report of a workshop, DNA oxidation, Aberdeen, UK, 19-21 January, 1997. Carcinogenesis 18 1833-6... 

Gene mutations occur in two ways they can be inherited from a parent or acquired during a person s lifetime. Mutations that are passed from parent to chUd are caUed hereditary mutations or germUne mutations (because they are present in the egg and sperm cells, which are also called germ ceUs). This type of mutation is present throughout a person s life in virtuaUy every ceU in the body. 

Meiosis A special method of ceU division, occurring in maturation of the germ cells, by means of which each daughter nucleus receives half the number of chromosomes characteristic of the somatic ceUs of the species. [NiH]... 

Ting Xie, Allan C. Spradling, A Niche Maintaining Germ Line Stem CeUs in the Drosophila Ovary, Science, 290 (2000), 328-330. 

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