Much more from the chicken's egg than breakfast--a wonderful model system.
The chick embryo has played a major role in the advance of our understanding of embryonic development. It has been particularly helpful in relation to amniotes like the mouse, for unlike the mouse in the early embryo the epiblast is beautifully flat, while in the mouse it is all curled up. Here I briefly describe some history and a few of the major achievements that came from the chick embryo.
Department of Anatomy, Developmental Biology, University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT London, UK. l.wolpert@ucl.ac.uk
Lewis
L
Wolpert
D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D015509:Developmental Biology / Q000266:history*; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D012249:Rhombencephalon / Q000196:embryology; D019170:Somites / Q000502:physiology