By: Leah Bressler -
Dr. Amander Clark of UCLA reviewed how differentiation of germ cells can be achieved from induced pluripotent stem cells (IPS). She reviewed how cells from the inner cell mass develop into the epiblast, which develop into all somatic cells including the primordial germ cell which differentiates into oogonia-oocytes. Studies in their laboratory demonstrate that day 3 primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLCs) in reconstituted ovaries can initiate meiosis. She then reviewed their procedure for identifying human primordial germ cells and outlined the next frontier: differentiating human primordial germ cells into oogonia.