Developmental Biology of Animals

This course prepares you for being a researcher in the field of developmental biology of animals. Drawing from a range of vertebrate and invertebrate model species, it covers a broad selection of topics from embryology to postnatal development, from evolutionary aspects of development (evo-devo) to regeneration of injured body parts. We specifically focus on learning about fundamental concepts in developmental biology, yet also provide an extensive hands-on-experience (using fish and flatworms as model species), which allows you to learn about important molecular techniques and to design, execute and analyze your own experiments.

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:

• Summarize the characteristics of a range of popular model species
• Understand and explain fundamental processes in embryonic/postnatal development and regeneration (e.g. cell-cell signaling, gene regulation, cell motion, epigenetic modifications)
• Understand how embryonic development is related to micro- and macroevolutionary changes
• Understand and apply important molecular techniques (e.g. DNA extraction, RNA extraction, gene expression (qPCR, ISH)
• Understand how to apply software in research (e.g. extract features from experimental data and perform simulations)
• Design and execute an experiment, collect and analyze data, critically reflect on the results (discussion), and to report the experiment to peers and teachers

Mandatory Knowledge:
ZSS06100 Laboratory Safety, ZSS06200 Fieldwork Safety
Assumed Knowledge:
CBI10306 Cell biology; EZO10306 Human and animal biology I; HAP20306 Human and animal biology, part 2