Biology

A laboratory investigation of the dynamics of embryonic development in animals. Students will observe and manipulate the development of living and fixed embryos representing a variety of invertebrate and vertebrate species, focusing on developing a conceptual understanding of the establishment of embryonic axes, origins of tissues and organs, the spatial and temporal relationships between structures, and the technological approaches to investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying developmental specification and morphogenesis. Advanced microscopy and image processing, micro-dissection, histochemical and molecular biological techniques will be applied. Students will be required to develop and demonstrate a novel laboratory investigation elucidating some aspect of animal development and/or develop a technique or teaching tool that can be applied to the investigation of embryonic development. Limited enrollment.