| Introduction | Developmental and Physiological Aspects of the Chicken Embryonic Heart |
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The chicken embryo is a classic organism used to illustrate the principles of basic vertebrate embryology primarily because it is easy to obtain and direct observation of a living embryo is possible even at the earliest stages of embryogenesis. One of the developmental systems which has been examined in the most detail by vertebrate embryology students has been the circulatory system; with the aid of a dissecting microscope, the early stages of heart development and the circulatory patterns can be observed even when the chicken embryo is still attached to the yolk. |
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The other advantage to using the live chicken embryo to demonstrate the principles of heart development is that the heart can be removed from the embryo and maintained in a dish of warm saline for several hours; the beating of the heart, the flow of blood, and the differentiation of the four chambers are even more clearly visible. In addition, the heart is large enough for properly trained students to surgically isolate two or more of the heart chambers from the beating in vitro heart. Thus, students who work with this particular embryo in their development and/or physiology laboratories not only learn many principles of vertebrate morphogenesis, organogenesis, and cardiac physiology, but are also exposed to simple, useful micromanipulative techniques. We designed this undergraduate laboratory to teach developmental/physiology students some of the basic principles of vertebrate heart embryology, blood flow, and electrical circuitry, using the chicken embryo as a model system. In addition, this lab requires the students to learn (or, hopefully, relearn) the scientific method; they must develop a hypothesis related to the effects of a reproductive toxin on heart rate, design a method for testing this hypothesis, carry out the experiment during the lab period, and write a lab report about their experiment and results. Finally, the students learn and utilize several micromanipulative techniques which exercise their fine motor control and ability to work with live embryos. These particular dexterous manipulations allow many of those who aspire to become physicians to try their hands (no pun intended) at surgical technique.
This page was last modified May 27, 1999.
Send questions or comments to jxm57@psu.edu
Copyright© 1999 Dr. Jacqueline McLaughlin and Dr. Elizabeth R. McCain All Rights Reserved
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