Embryonic germ cells
Human embryonic germ cells (EG cells) normally develop into eggs and sperm. They are derived from a specific part of the embryo called the gonad ridge, and are isolated from foetuses older than 8 weeks of development.
Australian Stem Cell Centre
While embryonic stem (ES) cells are similar to EG cells in many ways — such as being able to develop into any cell type — they are grown in different ways in the laboratory.
ES cell cultures have been grown for more than two years in the laboratory as immortal cell lines, but embryonic germ cell cultures can only survive about 70 to 80 cell divisions. This makes them less suitable for establishing cell lines for research.
However, one advantage of EG cells is that they do not appear to generate tumours when transferred into the body, as embryonic stem cells do. This may make them potentially useful sources of transplant tissue and cell-based therapies.
One of the greatest issues facing researchers is that the derivation of EG cells results from the destruction of a foetus. EG cells are isolated from terminated pregnancies and no embryos or foetuses are created for research purposes.
Only mouse EG cells are being studied in Australia.