Developmental Biology Protocols: Volume I (Methods in Molecular Biology, 135)

Developmental biology is one of the most exciting and fast-growing fields - day. In part, this is so because the subject matter deals with the innately fascinating biological events―changes in form, structure, and function of the organism. The other reason for much of the excitement in developmental biology is that the field has truly become the unifying melting pot of biology, and provides a framework that integrates anatomy, physiology, genetics, biochemistry, and cellular and molecular biology, as well as evolutionary biology. No longer is the study of embryonic development merely "embryology." In fact, development biology has produced important paradigms for both basic and clinical biomedical sciences alike. Though modern developmental biology has its roots in "experimental embry- ogy" and the even more classical "chemical embryology," the recent explosive and remarkable advances in developmental biology are critically linked to the advent of the "cellular and molecular biology revolution." The impressive arsenal of expe- mental and analytical tools derived from cell and molecular biology, which promise to continue to expand, together with the exponentially developing sophistication in fu- tional imaging and information technologies, guarantee that the study of the devel- ing embryo will contribute one of the most captivating areas of biological research in the next millennium.

The molecular biology revolution has transformed developmental biology into one of the most exciting and fruitful fields in experimental biomedical research today. In Developmental Biology Protocols, established leaders in this field demonstrate this achievement with a comprehensive collection of cutting-edge protocols for studying and analyzing the events of embryonic development. Drawing on state-of-the-art cellular and molecular techniques, as well as new and sophisticated imaging and information technologies, this first volume of three presents readily reproducible methods for establishing and characterizing several widely used experimental model systems, for both the study of developmental patterns and morphogenesis, and the examination of embryo structure and function. In addition, there are step-by-step methods for the analysis of cell lineage, the production and use of chimeras, and the experimental molecular manipulation of embryos, including the application of viral vectors.
The second and third volumes in this seminal set complete today's widest-ranging collection of techniques designed to decipher the exact cellular, molecular, and genetic mechanisms that control the form, structure, and function of the developing embryo. Volume 2 describes state-of-the-art methods for the study of organogenesis, the analysis of abnormal development and teratology, the screening and mapping of novel genes and mutations, and the application of transgenesis, including the production of transgenic animals and gene knockouts. No less innovative, Volume 3 introduces powerful techniques for the manipulation of developmental gene expression and function, the analysis of gene expression, the characterization of tissue morphogenesis and development, the in vitro study of differentiation and development, and the genetic analysis of developmental models of diseases. Highly practical and richly annotated, the three volumes of Developmental Biology Protocols describe multiple experimental systems and details techniques adopted from the broadest array of biomedical disciplines. Every researcher will not only better understand the principles, background, and rationale for how form and function are elaborated in an organism, but also gain full practical access to today's best methods for its analysis.