Browse Hierarchy SNU307: Developmental Biology and Cell Signalling

This module reviews molecular and cellular mechanisms of key developmental processes in different organisms and expands on the Y2 module SNU208 to examine the detailed pathways and regulation of these processes. The module has its base in molecular embryological descriptions of ways in which a single cell gives rise to an organism but emphasises that molecules and signalling pathways underlie the behavior and differentiation of cells during development. Moreover these molecules and the processes they mediate are conserved across species. Using selected examples, the module demonstrates how aberrant developmental pathways lead to defects not only in model organisms but also result in congenital malformations in human embryogenesis.