ABSTRACT
The goal of this chapter is twofold: first, to give an overview of the developmental changes related to digestive functions and cellular proliferation associated with morphogenesis in the small and large intestine, and second, to summarize our understanding of the regulatory mechanism(s) involved. Because of space limitations, this review, while not attempting to be comprehensive, focuses on the major recent advances relating to patterns and regulation of normal gastrointestinal tract development, including man. The interested reader will find detailed descriptions of the morphological and functional changes occurring during fetal and postnatal development in available reviews. 1-10
