Lecture 1 - Cell Differentiation & Neural Induction Flashcards
genes
guide the initial construction of the brain before birth, critical for proper function
malfunction of genes in brain development
will not produce well-formed brain, individual will not survive to birth
cell differentiation
the role of genes in directing cells to become specialized
body plan
distribution of specialized set of cells to form a body that survives and successfully completes to reproduce
protozoan
single cell organism
metazoan
multicellular organism; evolved the ability to produce cells with very different functions
discovery of epigenesis
chicken eggs > opened a new one every day at different stage of development
epigenesis
process in which the body gradually changes shape, acquiring new structures and growing more complex with time
Leeuwenhoek
first to observe living sperm cells, reported seeing tiny organisms in rain water
hook
first microscope, coined the term cell
Swammerdan
used microscope to find the wings and body of the butterfly that would have emerged from caterpillar; concluded that the adult form had been tucked inside the juvenile’s body all along
preformationism
the view that development consists of a simple enlargement of a body plan that was there from the beginning but simply too small to see
preformationism and humans
gradual unfolding of a homunculus when placed in a uterus to warm so it could expand to the size of a newborn (argument of whether it was in sperm or egg)
logical problem
if each person begins with a fully formed, microscopic body, tucked into the head of the sperm body from the farther where did the father’s body come from? (Russian dolls?)
improvement of microscopy
improvement in studies > reporting fertilized eggs across species divided repeatedly to form clusters of cells, all roughly the same size/shape; embryo does not have arms, legs etc., is only a clump of cells
ontogeny
developmental process of an individual growing up and growing old
fetus
all major organs and body parts are in place
phenotype
the sum total of the physical/behavioral characteristics an individual appears
genotype
the total genetic make up an individual inherits; determined at conception
original theory of inheritance
consisted of blending, such as that a parent’s prominent trait would be diluted in offspring by the mixing in of the other parent’s input
darwin and genetics
once a new adaptive trait arose, would not be quickly lost within a few generations of breeding if the trait could be inherited in complete form by at least some of the offspring
modern synthesis
the fusion of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and Mendel’s law of discrete unites of inheritance that are passed on, either as a whole or none
