The course illustrates the development of animal organisms at the descriptive, cellular, molecular and genetic levels, Special attention is paid to early vertebrate embryogenesis and to the developmental mechanisms of Drosophila, a key organism for our understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of development.
Concepts and methods of developmental biology. The preformistic and epigenetic visions. Mosaic and regulative models of development. Development and regional patterning of the Drosophila embryo. The molecular and genetic analysis of development. Vertebrate development: amphibians, birds, mammals (mouse) and man; embryonal annexes and the placenta. Genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms during embryogenesis. Vertebrate limb development. Evolution of developmental mechanisms.