By the end of the nineteenth century, the realization by Wilhem Roux that experimental manipulations of embryos could provide important information marked another turning point in the history of embryology. And in the following 200 years, technical advances in histological sectioning and staining led to important contributions to the understanding of development and to the production of the first histological atlas by Mathias Duval in 1889 (reviewed by). In the seventeenth century, with the aid of the recently invented microscope, Marcello Malpighi was able to perform a detailed description of several embryonic structures such as the somites, neural groove and blood vessels using the embryonic chick. Aristotle was the first to systematically study development by opening chicken eggs at different times and performing observations and dissections, which resulted in the production of the first great compendium of embryology in his book “ De Generatione Animalium” (350 bc reviewed by). The discovery of NGF by Rita Levi-Montalcini, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1986 together with Stanley Cohen, is one of several Nobel Prize winning discoveries made using this model.īut the history of the chick as a developmental model organism started long before.

The chick embryo as a developmental model organism A historical perspectiveĪvian embryos, and particularly the chick, have not only been instrumental to the field of developmental biology, but have also made significant contributions to the study of cell biology, virology, immunology, cancer biology and neuroscience. In addition, we discuss some methodological considerations derived from our own experience that we believe will be beneficial to researchers working with this system. Special emphasis is given to the state of the art of the techniques that have made gene gain- and loss-of-function studies in this model a reality. This article provides a general overview of the chick as a developmental model focusing more specifically on its application to the study of eye development.

A major advantage of these approaches is that they permit targeted gene misexpression with extremely high spatiotemporal resolution and over a large range of developmental stages, allowing functional analysis at a level, speed and ease that is difficult to achieve in other systems. Such techniques, combined with the embryological manipulations that this system is well known for, provide a unique toolkit to study the genetic basis of neural development. However, the completion of the chicken genome project and the development of techniques to manipulate gene expression have allowed this classic animal model to enter the molecular age. Until a few years ago, the inability to perform genetic manipulations constituted a major drawback of this system. Its rapid development and accessibility for visualization and experimental manipulation are just some of the characteristics that have made it a vertebrate model of choice for more than two millennia. The embryonic chick occupies a privileged place among animal models used in developmental studies.

96 hour chick embryo serial section