germ plasm

== English == === Alternative forms === germ-plasm germplasm (in the sense "maintained seeds or tissues") === Etymology === Calque of German Keimplasma. From circa 1892. === Noun === germ plasm (uncountable) (biology, dated or historical) The cytoplasm of germ cells. Synonym: pole plasm 2014, Eva Jablonka, Marion J. Lamb, Evolution in Four Dimensions, The MIT Press (Bradford Books), page 19, He[Weismann] reasoned that since the father's germ plasm in the sperm mixes with the mother's germ plasm in the egg, there are two mingled germ plasms in their offspring. Germplasm; seeds or tissues maintained for the purpose of animal or plant breeding, preservation or other research uses. ==== Usage notes ==== The biology term relates to the obsolete germ plasm theory (Keimplasmatheorie), described in 1892 by German biologist August Weismann. Through his theory he rejected Lamarckism and proposed what came to be called the Weismann barrier: the principle that germ cells can influence somatic cells, but not vice versa. Weismann's theory was made obsolete by genetics, but the idea that changes acquired during an organism's life cannot affect its offspring is still broadly accepted, albeit within a framework of epigenetic variable expression contrasting with mendelian heredity. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === germ plasm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia germplasm on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Weismann barrier on Wikipedia.Wikipedia