Developmental Biology and Disease

Catalog description

This course examines how a fertilized egg becomes an animal, emphasizing the causal basis of developmental events. Topics include embryonic organization, gene regulatory networks, inductive interactions, morphogenesis, and pattern formation, with attention to how classical and modern experiments revealed these principles. We will introduce development at organ, tissue, cellular, and molecular levels and explore how disruptions in these processes cause human disorders. Students will examine the genetic and mechanistic basis of congenital and developmental disorders, focusing on conditions affecting the heart, brain, limb, and other organ systems. Case studies will connect fundamental developmental mechanisms to human genetic variation and disease phenotypes, highlighting how basic research in developmental biology informs diagnosis, risk prediction, and emerging therapeutic strategies in both pediatric and adult patients across the lifespan.