Like Ellie said, I enjoyed reading about the three germ layers. It's amazing how these three layers form ALL the structures in our body. It's even more amazing how the ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm all form the same structures in different species. It's hard to believe that embryos of different species have such similarities and how different creatures are actually so alike in the beginning stages. I also enjoyed reading about what happens when blastocyst implants on the wall of a uterus, and Shubin's description of it as looking like a Frisbee. It was interesting to learn that our ENTIRE body forms from the tiny portion of the ball "mushed into the wall" (101).
It's also amazing how Mangold placed a patch from one embryo onto another and formed into a whole new body. As I was reading it, I couldn't help but think of how difficult it must have been for Mangold to work with such tiny structures. She must have had VERY fine control of her hands and fingers.
I was also excited to finally understand how Hox genes are what make bodies built in "head-to-tail organization" (109). I had always wondered how such order was developed in what I had previously thought of as "just a bunch of cells".
Francine Castillo
No comments:
Post a Comment