On the immortality of the germ line: Genetic and biochemical mechanisms. A review

@article{Medvedev1981OnTI,
  title={On the immortality of the germ line: Genetic and biochemical mechanisms. A review},
  author={Zhores A. Medvedev},
  journal={Mechanisms of Ageing and Development},
  year={1981},
  volume={17},
  pages={331-359}
}
  • Z. Medvedev
  • Published 1 December 1981
  • Biology
  • Mechanisms of Ageing and Development
View on Elsevier
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62 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
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15
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62 Citations

The Immortality of the Germ Line: The Neverending Story
  • A. Khokhlov
  • Medicine
    Moscow University Biological Sciences Bulletin
  • 2019
TLDR
The problem of germ line “immortality,” which was already formulated by A. Weismann at the end of the 19th century, is reviewed and can be reduced mainly to the existence of a number of barriers that do not allow progeny to emerge from “old” germ cells, although certain “rejuvenating” processes in the gametes still go.
Germline passage of mitochondria: quantitative considerations and possible embryological sequelae.
TLDR
It is proposed that maintaining the integrity of mitochondrial inheritance is such a strong evolutionary imperative that features of ovarian follicular formation, function, and loss could be expected to have been primarily adapted to this special purpose.
Germline passage of mitochondria: quantitative considerations and possible embryological sequelae
TLDR
It is proposed that the mitochondria of the germline are persistently 'haploid' (effectively carrying just one mitochondrial chromosome per organelle) and this could constitute a restriction/amplification/constraint event of a type previously demonstrated for asexual purification and refinement of a nonrecombining genome.
Immortality of the germ-line versus disposability of the soma.
The germ-line of species is immortal, at least in the sense that an unbroken continuity extends backwards in time to the origin of terrestrial life and forwards in time to an indeterminate future.…
Achieving immortality in the C. elegans germline
Uncoupling of pathways that promote postmitotic life span and apoptosis from replicative immortality of Caenorhabditis elegans germ cells
TLDR
C. elegans germ cells retain their youthful character via alternative pathways that prevent or eliminate damage that accumulates as a consequence of cell proliferation, and germ cells of strains deficient for these activities displayed an unlimited proliferative capacity.
The bottleneck: mitochondrial imperatives in oogenesis and ovarian follicular fate
Aging is a deprivation syndrome driven by a germ–soma conflict
Resistance of germinal nucleus to aging in Paramecium: Evidence obtained by micronuclear transplantation
The Deprivation Syndrome is the Driving Force of Phylogeny, Ontogeny and Oncogeny
TLDR
The conservation of transduction pathways and functional homology of effector molecules clearly bear witness that the principles of life established during prokaryotic and eukaryotic unicellular evolution, although later diversified, have been unshakably cast to persist during metazoan phylogenesis.
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  • Biology
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The migration of the germ cells into the mammalian gonad and their subsequent differentiation has been the subject of many investigations and controversies. However, sufficient facts have accumulated…
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