The concept of “Germplasm” was developed by German evolutionary biologist August Friedrich Leopold Weismann (1834 – 1914). The germplasm theory is also known as Weismannism. The theory suggests that all multi-cellular organisms are composed of somatoplasm and germplasm. Weismann introduced the germ plasm theory in his book “The Germ Plasm: a theory of inheritance” in 1892.
The somatoplasm (somatic cells) builds up the body while the germplasm (germ cells) transmits characters from the parents to the offspring. Germ cells can produce somatic cells and germ cells.
Further, the genetic information cannot pass from the somatoplasm to the germplasm known as the Weismann barrier.
