Molecular and Cellular Approaches to Neural Development

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Comprehensive, up-to-date and authoritative, this volume covers all the recent advances in understanding the early events of neural development at the molecular and cellular levels. The authors detail the applications of molecular genetic methods to the study of neural induction, neuronalphenotypes and processes, and the formation of specific patterns of connections. They analyze the new information generated through modern techniques for identifying, cloning, deleting and introducing specific genes, for labeling neuronal or glial precursors, and for imaging individual neurons orparts of neurons.Other chapters focus on the increasing use of a variety of model fruit flies, nematode worms, zebra fish, xenopus frogs, chicks, and mice. The improved conservation of DNA and protein sequences, and the availability of gene and protein databases have made it possible to rapidly identifygene homologues in organisms sometimes separated by hundreds of millions of years of evolution. This volume features several chapters co-authored by investigators one of whom works on vertebrates and the other on invertebrates. They demonstrate clearly that although the nervous systems of a fruitfly and a mouse, for example, are quite different in appearance and organization, many of the same molecular players and cellular processes are involved in their assembly. Molecular and Cellular Approaches to Neural Development will be of great practical interest to researchers, graduate studentsand post-doctoral fellows in developmental, cell and molecular biology, genetics, and neuroscience.