Developmental Biology Posted on March 18th, 2009 by

This semester I am enrolled in a 300 level biology course titled Developmental Biology.  So far, it has been a blast.

The lecture portion of the course meets Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 11:30 to 12:20.  My favorite topic we learned about was how mature C. elegans, a simple worm, always have 959 cells in adult organisms.  It is incredible that each C. elegans species always have the same amount of cells, and this characteristic has allowed developmental biologists to map out the exact fate of each developing cell in these incredible worms.

The lab portion of the course meets on Thursdays from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.  We have conducted some interesting experiments, ranging from sea urchin fertilization to parthenogenetic activation of frog eggs.  Another component of the lab will be an independent research project.  Me and two of my pals will be researching whether Planarians (another flatworm) can regenerate when exposed to several toxins.  Should be cool.

There are only 12 or so students in the class, making lecture a personal learning environment.  A great course.

 

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