ABSTRACT
In the twentieth century, the avian embryo became the subject of microsurgical approaches such as extirpations, isolations, and transplantations of anlagen to study tissue interactions. In the seventies of the last
C H A P T E R 12
century cell lineage studies could be performed by means of quail-chick chimerization which was introduced by Le Douarin (1969). To modern embryologists, the avian embryo offers an accessible system that allows the combination of microsurgical approaches with molecular studies. Transplantation experiments and application of signaling molecules can be combined with in situ hybridization and Northern analysis. It is now possible to over-express a gene or to inhibit its expression by retroviral transfection and electroporation of sense and RNAi constructs, and to analyze the effect after certain reincubation periods.
