Purification and Transfection Methods of Chicken Primordial Germ Cells

Primordial germ cells (PGCs) play a special role in the vertebrate life cycle since they are the precursors of germ cells through which the genome is passed to the next generations. PGCs are found in different locations and variable numbers in the chick embryo, as in other species, depending on the developmental stages. Here, we describe in detail a method based on the Percoll gradient, routinely used in our laboratory, allowing us to obtain from blood and gonad anlages significant numbers of viable PGCs which can be successfully cultured or efficiently genetically modified.