ANALYSIS OF NEURAL-TUBE DEFECTS IN A MOUSE MUTANT USING WHOLE-EMBRYO CULTURE

The method of whole embryo culture permits a variety of experimental m anipulations to be performed on the mammalian embryo. When used in con junction with mouse mutants, this technique can provide information on the pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the development of birth defec ts. To illustrate this approach, we review in vitro studies on the dev elopment of embryos homozygous for the mutation curly tail (ct). These studies have involved making repeated observations on individual embr yos, performing surgical manipulations, applying environmental influen ces and metabolic labelling. As a result of this work, we have now par tially elucidated the developmental sequence of events that precedes t he appearance of spina bifida in the ct mutant.