Biology 221 - Developmental Biology

How can a single cell, the fertilized egg, give rise to all the specialized cells of an adult? What gives rise to biological form?  What is the molecular logic of the pathways that progressively refine cellular identities? How do cells "talk" to one another so as to coordinate their behaviors as embryos develop form and function? How can parts of an organism be regenerated with only the appropriate regions remade, structured identically to the missing ones? How does a stem cell differ from a non-stem cell? How can genetically identical organisms be cloned? This course will offer an integrative study of the development of animals, leading to the formulation of the principles of development, including an introduction to experimental embryology and developmental physiology, anatomy, genetics and "evo-devo." Laboratory work explores embryonic development and regeneration in amphibians, sea urchins, nematodes, flatworms, fruit flies, fish, and chickens.  Four classroom hours and three hours of laboratory per week.

Requisite: BIOL 191. Not open to first-year students. Limited to 16 students. Spring semester. Professor Poccia.