نبذه عن الكتاب: Developmental Biology Protocols Overview III Rocky S. Tuan and Cecilia W. Lo 1. Introduction The marriage of cell and molecular biology with embryology has produced remarkable advances for the field of developmental biology. In this third volume of Developmental Biology Protocols, contemporary, practical methods are first presented for the analysis and manipulation of developmental gene expression. To illustrate how such techniques, as well as procedures of experimental embryology including those described in the first two volumes of the series, may be applied in the study of development, a panoramic collection of experimental models of morphogenesis, development, and cellular differentiation are detailed. Both in vivo and in vitro systems are included. The volume concludes with various examples of developmental models of diseases and their molecular basis. 2. Manipulation of Developmental Gene Expression and Function Drosophila has been and remains one of the most versatile model systems for the manipulation of developmental gene expression. Chapter 2 focuses on a description of the experimental approaches currently used in ectopic gene expression in Drosophila to examine the function of a given gene in the desired tissue. Chapter 3 deals with the utilization of the highly efficient FLP/FRT yeast site-specific recombination system to generate somatic and germline clones in Drosophila for phenotypic analysis and screening. Chapters 3 and 4 address the methods used to alter gene expression as well as gene function in another experimentally highly accessible system, the developing chick embryo. Chapter 3 describes the application of antisense oligonucleotides to “knock down” gene expression in somitic stage chick embryos, whereas Chapter 4 discusses how functional neutralizing monoclonal antibodies may be used to block the activity of a specific gene product, N-cadherin, in the developing chick embryonic limb bud.