title: Methods for studying human organogenesis.
abstract: This review details methods for utilizing D & C suction abortus specimens as a source of human fetal organs to study the morphogenetic and molecular mechanisms of human fetal organ development. By this means it is possible to design experiments elucidating the molecular mechanisms of human fetal organ development and to compare and contrast human developmental mechanisms with that of laboratory animals. Finally human fetal organs can be grown in vivo as grafts to athymic mice, thus allowing ethical analysis of potential adverse effects of environmental toxicants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Electronic address: gerald.cunha@ucsf.edu.
authors.forename: Gerald
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cunha
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Overland
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Mei
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Adriane
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University of California San Francisco, 400 Parnassus Avenue, Box A610, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Laurence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Baskin
mesh_terms: D037881:Aborted Fetus / Q000637:transplantation*; D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D054750:Ecotoxicology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000235:genetics*
keywords: Human development; Internal genitalia; Male and female external genitalia