The germ cell's journey: How some cells achieve immortality

We think of our bodies as mortal, but there’s one lineage of our cells that has a kind of immortality. They form an unbroken link to the cells of the earliest life on earth. They are the germ cells: a special type of cell that preserves our genome so it can be passed from parents to offspring. Germ cells develop into the sperm and eggs that unite to create the next generation.
In this video, learn how scientists at Whitehead Institute are exploring the germ cells’ journey: their migration in the developing embryo, their transformation into sex cells, and the keys to their longevity. Understanding this journey could reveal how germ cells rejuvenate their DNA to preserve it for decades, and could even show how cancer cells hijack similar processes to persist and spread throughout the body.
This video is part of a multimedia story collection, Cells Over Time. Visit wi.mit.edu/series to see the rest of the collection.