Leela Mulherkar and the teaching of developmental biology

The formal teaching of developmental biology in India began in the late nineteen-fifties at the Department of Zoology of the University of Poona. This was due to the efforts of Leela Mulherkar, who on her return from C.H. Waddington’s laboratory in Edinburgh, took up the teaching of embryology at the Master’s level. Mulherkar began using locally available material to teach how animals develop. They included the embryos of chicken, frog, garden lizard and molluscs, as well as organisms such as hydra and sponges. Her teaching was supported by an active research laboratory that used all these systems to address a variety of questions in embryology and teratology. She used chick embryo explants cultured in vitro extensively in her work. Teaching and research in embryology at the master’s and doctoral levels at Poona University subsequently led, in 1977, to the establishment of the Indian Society of Developmental Biologists (InSDB), which is among the most active scientific societies in India.

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The Spallanzani Symposium University of Pavia Italy 30 September to 1 October 1999

Zygote ◽

10.1017/s0967199400000769 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 1-1

Keyword(s):

Developmental Biology ◽

Cumulus Cell ◽

Basic Research ◽

Natural Sciences ◽

The Body ◽

Cell Nuclei ◽

The North ◽

Productive Research ◽

The University

Two centuries ago, Lazzaro Spallanzani, a Professor of Natural Sciences at the University of Pavia, revolutionised the field of reproduction by artificially inseminating a female poodle that subsequently gave birth to pups. This experiment was the first step in manipulating gametes outside the body and paved the way to present-day in vitro techniques used in human and animal fertilisation. As part of the bicentennial celebrations of the death of Spallanzani the Laboratory of Developmental Biology of the University of Pavia, led by Professors Carlo Redi, Silvia Garagna and Maurizio Zuccotti, organised a meeting where leaders in the field of reproduction discussed the most important advances made this century. Lectures were given by R. Schmid, C. Redi, E. Capanna, W. Hilscher, M. Handel, R. Yanagimachi, R. Dallai, B. Dale, A. Byskov, E. Topfer-Peterson, P. Wassarman, K. Swann, R. Schultz, K. Campbell and E. Fox Keller.On this occasion, in recognition of 35 years of highly innovative and productive research, the North American Editor for Zygote, Ryuzo Yanagimachi, was awarded The Laurea Honoris Causa by the University of Pavia. Yana's studies have had an undisputable impact on both basic research and its application to biomedicine, and range from the first in vitro fertilisation with capacitated sperm and the first intracytoplasmic sperm injection to the successful cloning of mice using cumulus cell nuclei. Congratulations from all at Zygote to Yana.

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The 1-MeV Electron Microscope Installation at the University of Colorado

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100070485 ◽

1973 ◽

Vol 31 ◽

pp. 8-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Mircea Fotino

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Developmental Biology ◽

Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽

Electron Microscope ◽

National Institutes Of Health ◽

Experimental Program ◽

University Of Colorado ◽

Transmission Electron ◽

The University ◽

Research Resources

A new 1-MeV transmission electron microscope (Model JEM-1000) was installed at the Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology of the University of Colorado in Boulder during the summer and fall of 1972 under the sponsorship of the Division of Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health. The installation was completed in October, 1972. It is installed primarily for the study of biological materials without many of the limitations hitherto unavoidable in standard transmission electron microscopy. Only the technical characteristics of the installation are briefly reviewed here. A more detailed discussion of the experimental program under way is being published elsewhere.

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The end of the laboratory developed test as we know it? Recommendations from a national multidisciplinary taskforce of laboratory specialists on the interpretation of the IVDR and its complications

Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) ◽

10.1515/cclm-2020-1384 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Paul C. D. Bank ◽

Leo H. J. Jacobs ◽

Sjoerd A. A. van den Berg ◽

Hanneke W. M. van Deutekom ◽

Dörte Hamann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

The Netherlands ◽

Medical Devices ◽

Task Force ◽

Large Impact ◽

Guidance Document ◽

Scientific Societies ◽

Clinical Laboratories ◽

The Impact

AbstractThe in vitro diagnostic medical devices regulation (IVDR) will take effect in May 2022. This regulation has a large impact on both the manufacturers of in vitro diagnostic medical devices (IVD) and clinical laboratories. For clinical laboratories, the IVDR poses restrictions on the use of laboratory developed tests (LDTs). To provide a uniform interpretation of the IVDR for colleagues in clinical practice, the IVDR Task Force was created by the scientific societies of laboratory specialties in the Netherlands. A guidance document with explanations and interpretations of relevant passages of the IVDR was drafted to help laboratories prepare for the impact of this new legislation. Feedback from interested parties and stakeholders was collected and used to further improve the document. Here we would like to present our approach to our European colleagues and inform them about the impact of the IVDR and, importantly we would like to present potentially useful approaches to fulfill the requirements of the IVDR for LDTs.

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Sample-Pooling Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 Detection among Students and Staff of the University of Sannio

Diagnostics ◽

10.3390/diagnostics11071166 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 1166

Author(s):

Immacolata Polvere ◽

Elena Silvestri ◽

Lina Sabatino ◽

Antonia Giacco ◽

Stefania Iervolino ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction ◽

Virus Detection ◽

Testing Procedures ◽

Stem Infection ◽

In Vitro Diagnostic ◽

Sample Pooling ◽

Pooling Strategy ◽

Asymptomatic Individuals ◽

The University

Since the beginning of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, it has been clear that testing large groups of the population was the key to stem infection and prevent the effects of the coronavirus disease of 2019, mostly among sensitive patients. On the other hand, time and cost-sustainability of virus detection by molecular analysis such as reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) may be a major issue if testing is extended to large communities, mainly asymptomatic large communities. In this context, sample-pooling and test grouping could offer an effective solution. Here we report the screening on 1195 oral-nasopharyngeal swabs collected from students and staff of the Università degli Studi del Sannio (University of Sannio, Benevento, Campania, Italy) and analyzed by an in-house developed multiplex RT-qPCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection through a simple monodimensional sample pooling strategy. Overall, 400 distinct pools were generated and, within 24 h after swab collection, five positive samples were identified. Out of them, four were confirmed by using a commercially available kit suitable for in vitro diagnostic use (IVD). High accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were also determined by comparing our results with a reference IVD assay for all deconvoluted samples. Overall, we conducted 463 analyses instead of 1195, reducing testing resources by more than 60% without lengthening diagnosis time and without significant losses in sensitivity, suggesting that our strategy was successful in recognizing positive cases in a community of asymptomatic individuals with minor requirements of reagents and time when compared to normal testing procedures.

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The culture of chick embryo chondrocytes and the control of their differentiated functions in vitro. Transformation by rous sarcoma virus induces a switch in the collagen type synthesis and enhances fibronectin expression.

Journal of Biological Chemistry ◽

10.1016/s0021-9258(18)32350-0 ◽

1983 ◽

Vol 258 (11) ◽

pp. 7190-7194 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

E Gionti ◽

O Capasso ◽

R Cancedda

Keyword(s):

Chick Embryo ◽

Rous Sarcoma Virus ◽

Collagen Type ◽

Type Synthesis ◽

In Vitro Transformation ◽

Rous Sarcoma ◽

Fibronectin Expression ◽

Sarcoma Virus

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A STUDY OF THE INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF CHICK WHOLE EYE EXTRACT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LENS OF THE CHICK EMBRYO IN VITRO

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z66-065 ◽

1966 ◽

Vol 44 (4) ◽

pp. 661-676 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Robert P. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Chick Embryo ◽

Nutrient Medium ◽

Inhibitory Effect ◽

Reactive System ◽

Vesicle Formation ◽

Inhibitory Effects ◽

Muscle Extract ◽

Lens Vesicle ◽

And Control

To demonstrate the phenomenon of homologous inhibition by clearly interpretable results in a readily reactive system, experiments were carried out to study the effect of chick whole eye extract on the development of the vesicular lens of the chick embryo in vitro. The heads of embryos of 11 through 13 somites were explanted onto nutrient medium diluted with varying amounts of the extract, and cultured for 30 hours. A total of 35 embryos exposed to concentrations of 1:1, 1:2, and 1:4 (extract to medium) showed complete inhibition of lens vesicle formation. Of a total of 53 embryos on concentrations of 1:8, 1:16, 1:32, and 1:64, more than 50% showed inhibition of vesicle formation. The inhibitory effect disappeared at a concentration of 1:128. Control material exposed to some equivalent concentrations of nutrient medium – saline mixtures showed inhibition of vesicle formation in only 15% of 33 embryos. Of a total of 27 control embryos exposed to ventricular muscle extract, approximately one-third showed inhibition of vesicle formation at concentrations of 1:8 and 1:16, with the inhibitory effect disappearing at 1:32. The implications of this result are discussed. Other factors and control experiments are described and their value is assessed.

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