Of fin and fur: mutational analysis of vertebrate embryonic development.

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Vertebrate embryonic development has traditionally been studied in the amphibian and the chick. In these organisms extensive experimental manipulations, and, more recently, molecular characterization have helped to illuminate mechanisms of cell-cell interactions that lead to lineage development and pattern formation. But neither Xenopus nor chick is readily amenable to genetic studies. The power of mutational analysis in understanding developmental events in invertebrates has led researchers to consider other vertebrate species in which embryology and genetics might be combined to provide insights into the genetic control of early development. An obvious candidate is the mouse. The early embryology of the mouse is fairly well understood (Rossant and Pedersen 1986), and there is already a storehouse of spontaneous and radiation-induced mutations affecting developmental processes A number of these mutations have been characterized molecularly by mapping cloned genes to the locus of interest (for review, see Reith and Bernstein 1991), and two, Biachyuiy As the genetic linkage map of cloned genes increases in resolution However, initiating large-scale screens for new mutations affecting embryonic development in the mouse has been considered to be too slow and expensive an undertaking, mainly owing to small litter sizes, large genome size, the cost of housing large numbers of animals, and the inability to observe and manipulate all stages of the developing embryo easily.