An Introduction to the Chick: Gallus gallus domesticus

Overview

The chicken embryo (Gallus gallus domesticus) is an extremely valuable model organism for research in developmental biology, in part because most of their development takes place within an egg that is incubated outside of the mother. As a result, early developmental stages can be accessed, visualized and manipulated by simply creating a small hole in the eggshell. Since billions of chickens are raised worldwide for meat and egg production, scientists can easily and economically acquire large numbers of fertilized eggs throughout the year. Furthermore, chickens share significant genetic conservation with humans, so the genetic mechanisms that have been found to regulate chicken development are also relevant to our own biology.

This video focuses on introducing the domesticated chicken as a scientific model. The discussion begins with a review of chicken phylogeny, revealing the features that make them amniotes, like other birds, reptiles, and mammals. Highlights from the millennia of chicken research will be presented, ranging from Aristotle’s postulates about the function of extra-embryonic membranes to more recent, Nobel-prize winning discoveries in neuroscience. Additionally, some current examples of studies performed in chicken embryos will be provided, such as in vivo tracking of cell movements during development and the recruitment of blood vessels to developing tumors (a process known as angiogenesis).

Procedure

The developing chicken, or chick, formally known as Gallus gallus domesticus, is an important model system for biomedical research. Within each chicken egg is an embryo that can be subjected to genetic and embryological manipulations. Such experimentation is relevant to human health and disease, because of the similarities between human and chick genomes. This video covers an overview of the chick model system, some key discoveries made in chick, and a few exciting examples of how they are used in labs today.

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Tags
ChickGallus Gallus DomesticusBiomedical ResearchGenetic ManipulationEmbryological ManipulationHuman HealthChick GenomesChick Model SystemChicken BiologyAmniotaExtraembryonic MembranesLand EnvironmentAves ClassPhasianidae FamilyRed JunglefowlSoutheast AsiaChicken Diet

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0:00

Overview

0:44

Gallus gallus domesticus: The Organism

2:36

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Lab?

3:40

A Brief History of Lab Chicks

5:43

Applications

6:57

Summary

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