Ruth Bellairs – författare

The Atlas of Chick Development, Third Edition, a classic work covering all major event of chick development, is extensively updated with new and more detailed photographs, enlargements showing regions of special-interest and complexity, and new illustrations. The revised text and expanded illustrative material describe the intricate changes that take place during development, together with accounts of recent experimental and molecular research that has transformed our understanding of morphogenesis.

These wide-ranging updates make this book an essential resource for developmental biologists, geneticists, molecular biologists, poultry scientists, biochemists, immunologists, and other life scientists who use the chick embryo as their research model. Individuals joining this burgeoning area, ignited by the increased insight into events surrounding organ and tissue differentiation, will find this a valuable tool to help grow a basic knowledge of morphogenesis.

Remains the established standard-the only book providing a comprehensive description of chick development from fertilization to hatching Contains more than 750 photographs and illustrations, including 410 labelled histological sections and 85 new high-quality plates, showing the major anatomical events from the earliest stages to 13 days of incubation Includes more than 200 labelled and detailed scanning electron micrographs, showing various tissues in great detail Leads the reader to important reviews on aspects of this rapidly moving field, along with extensive and updated references

Somite development is a unique and important topic; unique because somitic mesoderm is the first tissue to become segmented, important because the somites - once established - exert a profound influence on other seg­ mental structures which form later. Somite development is of interest at a number of levels. In one aspect, demarcation of a specific number of somites and size regulation, it is a particularly intriguing example of embryonic pattern formation, 'especially in vew of its possible relation to homoeobox-controlled segmentation in insects. At another level, somite development has long been studied by compara­ tive anatomists, but only recently has new light been thrown on such sub­ jects as segmentation of the head, proposed in the 18th century by Goethe and now a live issue for developmental biologists. Somit es are simple when they first appear, but very complex structures arise from them. These include the vertebrae and the axial and other muscles and consequently there is a wealth of morphogenetic problems to be explored. Sometimes their morphogenesis is disturbed, by genetic or environ­ mental factors, and there are many clinical conditions which arise as a result.

Mesodenn is a key tissue in early development. It is involved in the differentiation of almost every organ in the body, not merely as a structural component, but as an active participant in the establishment of diverse cell types. All mesodenn is derived from ectoderm. Its appearance signals the start of a significant new phase in the development of the embryo. At this time all three genn layers are now present and myriad sequences of cell and tissue interactions begin to occur which will eventually give rise to the entire embryo. The control of the growth and differentiation of the mesoderm is critical for the production of a normal individual. Indeed, disturbance of the patterning of the mesoderm or of its interaction with other tissues plays a critical part in the fonnation of most congenital anomalies. The main focus of this book is therefore on the establishment, divergence and specialisation of mesodermal derivatives. The central role of the mesoderm in development has long been appreciated and a wide literature exists on its activity in certain specialised situations. Recently, however, an impetus to its study has been provided by new approaches opened up through biotechnological advances. Many of these advances are reflected in the reports in this volume. Scientists from various disciplines have become drawn to mesodermal tissues, and this volume may help them find a framework within which their work will fit.