Experimental Embryology

a branch of embryology that studies the mechanisms controlling the individual development of animals and plants by means of experiments on living organisms. It uses such methods as marking, removal, transplantation, and isolation of body parts and organs. It also studies the action of various external factors on embryonic development.

Experimental embryology identifies the stages of the determination of the material of rudimentary organs and tissues, the sources of formative or inductive influences, the role of synthesis of macromolecules in the processes of determination and differentiation, and the factors responsible for morphogenesis. By removing, inactivating, or transplanting cell nuclei, experimental embryologists investigate the interaction of the nucleus and cytoplasm during gametogenesis and embryonic development, as well as the stages and factors of differential activation of genes in the course of development.