In biology and genetics, the germline is the population of a multicellular organism's cells that develop into germ cells. In other words, they are the cells that form gametes, which can come together to form a zygote. They differentiate in the gonads from primordial germ cells into gametogonia, which develop into gametocytes, which develop into the final gametes. This process is known as gametogenesis.
Z-DNA is one of the many possible double helical structures of DNA. It is a left-handed double helical structure in which the helix winds to the left in a zigzag pattern, instead of to the right, like the more common B-DNA form. Z-DNA is thought to be one of three biologically active double-helical structures along with A-DNA and B-DNA.
Embryoid bodies (EBs) are three-dimensional aggregates formed by pluripotent stem cells. These include embryonic stem cells (ESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC)
Transforming growth factor is used to describe two classes of polypeptide growth factors, TGFα and TGFβ.
Marlene Belfort is an American biochemist known for her research on the factors that interrupt genes and proteins. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has been admitted to the United States National Academy of Sciences.
Douglas A. Melton is an American medical researcher who is the Xander University Professor at Harvard University, and was an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute until 2022. Melton serves as the co-director of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and was the first co-chairman of the Harvard University Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology. Melton is the founder of several biotech companies including Gilead Sciences, Ontogeny, iPierian, and Semma Therapeutics. Melton holds membership in the National Academy of the Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a founding member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
Homeobox protein CDX-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the CDX2 gene. The CDX-2 protein is a homeobox transcription factor expressed in the nuclei of intestinal epithelial cells, playing an essential role in the development and function of the digestive system. CDX2 is part of the ParaHox gene cluster, a group of three highly conserved developmental genes present in most vertebrate species. Together with CDX1 and CDX4, CDX2 is one of three caudal-related genes in the human genome.
Anaphase-promoting complex subunit 5 is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the ANAPC5 gene.
Jared Diamond is an American scientist and author. Trained in physiology, and having published on ecology, anthropology, and linguistics, Diamond's work is known for drawing from a variety of fields. He is currently professor of geography at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Among his awards are a Pulitzer Prize and an International Cosmos Prize. Diamond splits his time between teaching at UCLA, researching birds of the Pacific islands, writing books about human societies, and promoting sustainable ecological practices. He formerly had a secondary career path in physiology and biophysics.
Margaret Buckingham, is a British developmental biologist working in the fields of myogenesis and cardiogenesis. She is an honorary professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris and emeritus director in the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS). She is a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, the Academia Europaea and the French Academy of Sciences.
Jamey Marth is a molecular and cellular biologist. He is currently on the faculty of the SBP Medical Discovery Institute in La Jolla, California where he is Director of the Immunity and Pathogenesis program.
Tripartite motif-containing 14 is a protein encoded by the TRIM14 gene in the human genome. It belongs to the TRIM family of proteins which contain the TRIM motif on the N-terminus. TRIM14 lacks the RING domain within the motif and therefore it loses the function of E3 ubiquitin ligase in eukaryotic cells. Instead, the PRYSPRY domain on the C-terminus allows TRIM14 to be categorized into an evolutionarily younger group of TRIM proteins which are involved in the regulation of innate immunity. TRIM 14 is localized in both the cytoplasm and the cell nucleus.
Francis Hugh Ruddle (1929–2013) was an American cell and developmental biologist who was the Sterling Professor at Yale University. Ruddle was an early visionary of the Human Genome Project and created the first genetically modified mouse. He was a pioneer in both human and mouse genetics.
Hanah Margalit is a Professor in the faculty of medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research combines bioinformatics, computational biology and systems biology, specifically in the fields of gene regulation in bacteria and eukaryotes.
Promiscuous gene expression (PGE), formerly referred to as ectopic expression, is a process specific to the thymus that plays a pivotal role in the establishment of central tolerance. This phenomenon enables generation of self-antigens, so called tissue-restricted antigens (TRAs), which are in the body expressed only by one or few specific tissues. These antigens are represented for example by insulin from the pancreas or defensins from the gastrointestinal tract. Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) of the thymus, namely medullary thymic epithelial cells (mTECs), dendritic cells (DCs) and B cells are capable to present peptides derived from TRAs to developing T cells and hereby test, whether their T cell receptors (TCRs) engage self entities and therefore their occurrence in the body can potentially lead to the development of autoimmune disease. In that case, thymic APCs either induce apoptosis in these autoreactive T cells or they deviate them to become T regulatory cells, which suppress self-reactive T cells in the body that escaped negative selection in the thymus. Thus, PGE is crucial for tissues protection against autoimmunity.
David Suter is a Swiss physician and molecular and cell biologist. His research focuses on quantitative approaches to study gene expression and developmental cell fate decisions. He is currently a professor at EPFL, where he heads the Suter Lab at the Institute of Bioengineering of the School of Life Sciences.
Paula Veronica Welander is a microbiologist and professor at Stanford University who is known for her research using lipid biomarkers to investigate how life evolved on Earth.
Eran Meshorer is an Israeli scientist, professor of epigenetics and stem cells at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, and The Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Meshorer is the Arthur Gutterman Chair for Stem Cell Research.
Nissim Benvenisty is Professor of Genetics, the Herbert Cohn Chair in Cancer Research and the Director of “The Azrieli Center for Stem Cells and Genetic Research” at the Alexander Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, Hebrew University.
Brandon Stuart Gaut is an American evolutionary biologist and geneticist who works as a Distinguished Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Irvine.
