415.670.92 DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY AND HUMAN MALFORMATIONS I

Familiarizes students with modern developmental biology and the use of this knowledge to understand common human malformations. Includes lectures on the methodology and model systems of developmental biology; a review of preimplantation development and gastrulation, and embryogensis/organogensis. Subsequent lectures focus on the development of organ systems.

After successful completion of this course, you will be able to (1) explain the different ways to analyze birth defects: analytically, embryologically, and by developmental biological analysis; (2) describe the basic stages of development: preimplantation, gastrulation, organogenesis, and fetal growth; (3) describe the basic genetic molecular control mechanisms of development; (4) describe the basic concept of evolutionary conservation of ontogeny; (5) define the concepts of homologous genes and structures; (6) describe the mechanism of laterality determination in vertebrates; and (7) analyze a congenital anomaly including the embryology and developmental biology of the genesis of the abnormality using sources including appropriate textbooks, journal articles and online resources.