ANAT2341 is a Science undergraduate course in Embryology. This course runs in semester 2 each year as an introduction to embryology for the undergraduate student. In 2009 the first complete online lecture series has been published on the new Embryology Wiki being developed for collaborative embryology publication. Supporting this course has been the transfer of embryology movies to a new format. (More? UNSW Embryology – Embryology Wiki | ANAT2341 Course Timetable 2009 | Movies)

For some time the embryonic origin of the skin merkel cell has been contentious as either neural crest or epithelial. A recent JCB paper using lineage tracing appears to now clearly identify that in mammals the embryonic origin is from the epidermis. Merkel cells are found in touch-sensitive area of the epidermis (stratum basale, stratum germinativum) and mediate mechanotransduction in the skin and are named after Friedrich Sigmund Merkel, a German anatomist who was the first to describe them in 1875. Epidermal progenitors give rise to Merkel cells during embryonic development and adult homeostasis. Van Keymeulen A, Mascre G, Youseff KK, Harel I, Michaux C, De Geest N, Szpalski C, Achouri Y, Bloch W, Hassan BA, Blanpain C. J Cell Biol. 2009 Oct 5;187(1):91-100. Epub 2009 Sep 28. PMID: 19786578 “Merkel cells (MCs) are located in the touch-sensitive area of the epidermis and mediate mechanotransduction in the skin. Whether MCs originate from embryonic epidermal or neural crest progenitors has been a matter of intense controversy since their discovery >130 yr ago. In addition, how MCs are maintained during adulthood is currently unknown. In this study, using lineage-tracing experiments, we show that MCs arise through the differentiation of epidermal progenitors during embryonic development. In adults, MCs undergo slow turnover and are replaced by cells originating from epidermal stem cells, not through the proliferation of differentiated MCs. Conditional deletion of the Atoh1/Math1 transcription factor in epidermal progenitors results in the absence of MCs in all body locations, including the whisker region. Our study demonstrates ...

Stress-evoked changes in circuits that regulate serotonin in certain parts of the brain can precipitate a low mood and a relapse of cocaine-seeking, based on mouse studies.

DNA samples often convict criminals. But many of today's forensic tests are so polluted by soil, tobacco and food remains, for example, that they can not be used. Now researchers in Sweden have improved a critical part of the analysis process. The first findings indicate that the new method strengthens the DNA analysis so that previously negative samples yield positive and usable DNA profiles.

High-definition colonoscopy is much more sensitive than standard colonoscopy in finding polyps that could morph into cancer, say researchers.

The race of kidney donors may affect the survival rates of transplant recipients, according to a new study.

Paleontologists Mark Goodwin and Jack Horner have dug for 11 years in Montana's Hell Creek Formation in search of every dinosaur fossil they can find, accumulating specimens of all stages of development. Their new report on the growth stages of dome-headed dinosaurs shows that two named species are really just young pachycephalosaurs. They say that perhaps one-third of all named dinosaurs may not be separate species, but juvenile or subadult stages of other known dinosaurs.

Watering eye, also known as epiphora or tearing, is a condition in which there is an overflow of tears onto the face, often without a clear explanation. There is insufficient tear film drainage from the eye(s) - instead of all the tears draining through the nasolacrimal system, they overflow onto the face. Epiphora can develop at any age.

UroToday.com - An article in the online edition of Cancer assesses differences in prostate cancer (CaP) treatment, trust and regular patient care based upon patient race. The North Carolina-Louisiana prostate Cancer Project (PCaP) is a population-based study of men identified shortly after CaP diagnosis.

Consumer Watchdog sent the following letter to Congressional leaders today in response to a letter sent by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in which he incorrectly cited California's draconian limits on the legal rights of injured patients as a successful cost containment tool. Consumer Watchdog is a nonpartisan nonprofit with offices in California and Washington, D.C.