BSE652A: Developmental Biology

The objective of this course is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the concepts of early animal development. Students taking this course must develop a critical appreciation of methodologies specifically used to study the process of embryonic development in animals. In this course a particular model system will not be discussed in detail. Instead, different concepts of animal development will be elaborated in one model system or the other. Once the concepts are taught the students will be made familiar with different approaches that have been used to study such concepts. Further topics that will be discussed are stem cells and regeneration, the developmental basis of diseases as well as the developmental mechanisms of evolutionary change.