Biology II: Mouse, Zebrafish, and Chick

Mice (Mus musculus) are an important research tool for modeling human disease progression and development in the lab. Despite differences in their size and appearance, mice share a distinct genetic similarity to humans, and their ability to reproduce and mature quickly make them efficient and economical candidate mammals for scientific study. This video provides a brief overview of mice, both as organisms and in terms of their many advantages as experimental models. The discussion features an...

The chicken embryo (Gallus gallus domesticus) is an extremely valuable model organism for research in developmental biology, in part because most of their development takes place within an egg that is incubated outside of the mother. As a result, early developmental stages can be accessed, visualized and manipulated by simply creating a small hole in the eggshell. Since billions of chickens are raised worldwide for meat and egg production, scientists can easily and economically acquire large...

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are small freshwater fish that are used as model organisms for biomedical research. The many strengths of these fish include their high degree of genetic conservation with humans and their simple, inexpensive maintenance. Additionally, gene expression can be easily manipulated in zebrafish embryos, and their transparency allows for observation of developmental processes. This overview video first introduces basic zebrafish biology, including their phylogeny, life cycle,...

Mice (Mus musculus) are small rodents that breed and sexually mature quickly, making them perfectly suited to generating large animal colonies for biological research. As compared to other mammalian species, mice are simple and inexpensive to maintain in the laboratory. Nevertheless, mouse colonies do have specific husbandry needs that are critical to preserving animal health and safety as well as experimental reproducibility. This video demonstrates standard practices that ensure mice are...

Chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) are a valuable research tool, not only for studying important concepts in vertebrate development, neuroscience, and tumor biology, but also as an efficient system in which to propagate viruses. Although eggs can be purchased from external suppliers and working with chicks requires very little specialized equipment, an understanding of proper handling procedures is required for normal embryo development. This video will provide an overview of egg handling...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a powerful vertebrate model system for studying development, modeling disease, and screening for novel therapeutics. Due to their small size, large numbers of zebrafish can be housed in the laboratory at low cost. Although zebrafish are relatively easy to maintain, special consideration must be given to both diet and water quality to in order to optimize fish health and reproductive success. This video will provide an overview of zebrafish husbandry and...

Successful breeding of the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus) is critical to the establishment and maintenance of a productive animal colony. Additionally, mouse embryos are frequently studied to answer questions about developmental processes. A wide variety of genetic tools now exist for regulating gene expression during mouse embryonic and postnatal development, which can help scientists to understand more about heritable diseases affecting human development. This video provides an introduction...

The chicken embryo (Gallus gallus domesticus) provides an economical and accessible model for developmental biology research. Chicks develop rapidly and are amenable to genetic and physiological manipulations, allowing researchers to investigate developmental pathways down to the cell and molecular levels. This video review of chick development begins by describing the process of egg fertilization and formation within the chicken reproductive tract. Next, the most commonly used chick staging...

The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has become a popular model for studying genetics and developmental biology. The transparency of these animals at early developmental stages permits the direct visualization of tissue morphogenesis at the cellular level. Furthermore, zebrafish are amenable to genetic manipulation, allowing researchers to determine the effect of gene expression on the development of a vertebrate with a high degree of genetic similarity to humans. This video provides a brief overview of...

Even though the human genome was mapped over 10 years ago, scientists are still far from understanding the function of every human gene! One way to evaluate how a gene functions is to disrupt the sequence encoding it and then evaluate the impact of this change (the phenotype) on the animal’s biology. This approach is commonly used in the mouse (Mus musculus), since it shares a high degree of genetic similarity with humans. To track the animals bearing genetic changes over several generations,...

Electroporation is a technique used in biomedical research that allows for the manipulation of gene expression via the delivery of foreign genetic material into cells. More specifically, in ovo electroporation is performed on early developing chicks (Gallus gallus domesticus) contained within their eggshells. In this procedure, DNA or knockdown constructs are first injected into a target tissue. However, the genetic material is unable to penetrate the plasma membrane to carry out its function...

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are an important model organism that is particularly valuable for research in developmental biology. Zebrafish are extremely fertile and can produce hundreds of progeny per week, so it is relatively easy to collect a large number of embryos for high sample numbers. Furthermore, zebrafish undergo rapid development and embryos are transparent, allowing for easy visualization of developmental processes. This video covers the steps required for the collection of newly...

Many investigations performed in mice (Mus musculus) require the administration of an experimental agent to the animal. For example, it may be of interest to test the efficacy of a specific therapy, to induce a pathologic condition, or to administer anesthesia or palliative care. In order to ensure safe and efficient delivery, it is important to consider a variety of factors prior to the administration of the treatment. This video, which reviews agent administration in the mouse, begins by...

One strength of the chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus) as a model organism for developmental biology is that the embryo develops outside the female and is easily accessible for experimental manipulation. Many techniques allow scientists to examine chicken embryos inside the eggshell (in ovo), but embryonic access can be limited at later stages of development. Fortunately, chicks can also be cultured ex ovo, or outside of the eggshell. The major advantage to ex ovo culture is greater access to...

One of the major advantages to working with zebrafish (Danio rerio) is that their genetics can be easily manipulated by microinjection of early stage embryos. Using this technique, solutions containing genetic material or knockdown constructs are delivered into the blastomeres: the embryonic cells sitting atop the yolk of the newly fertilized egg. Delivery into the cytoplasm is achieved either through direct injection into the blastomere, or via natural cytoplasmic movements that occur after a...