Embryo

Sixteen and a half-day embryo of a “knockout mouse”, a mouse in which a gene coding for an enzyme responsible for cell division has been inactivated.

Genetic manipulation of the mouse reveals roles that genes play in the differentiation and development of the skeleton. The embryo here was cleaned of soft tissues and stained to separately reveal cartilage (blue) and mineralized bone (red) for study.

Research on gene knockout mice is contributing vital information concerning normal and abnormal development, which may then be used in future work on problems ranging from the evolution of skeletal structure to therapies for clinically relevant skeletal disorders and other diseases in humans.