Int. J. Dev. Biol. 44: 101 - 108 (2000)

Vol 44, Issue 1

Special Issue: Developmental Biology in Britain

Limb development: an international model for vertebrate pattern formation

Published: 15 January 2000

C Tickle

Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, United Kingdom. c.a.tickle@dundee.ac.uk

Abstract

Limb development is an excellent model for studying how patterns of differentiated cells and tissues are generated in vertebrate embryos. The cell interactions that mediate patterning have been discovered and, more recently, some of the molecules involved in these interactions have been identified. This has provided a direct link to genetics and thus to genes that cause human congenital limb defects.