This page contains Practical 3 links to online texbooks that should be used as background to the topic of gametogenesis and fertilization. There is only one directly embryological text, though the Cell Biology texts (3 from NCBI Bookshelf) also have excellent coverage of these topics.
Molecular Biology of the Cell Image: Comparison Meiosis and normal cell division
Molecular Cell Biology Image: Figure 8-2. Meiosis Image: Figure 8-18. Recombination during meiosis.
The Cell Image: Figure 14.32. Comparison of meiosis and mitosis Meiosis and Fertilisation Figure 3.2. Chromosomes at meiosis and fertilization
Developmental Biology. 6th ed. Gilbert, Scott F. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates, Inc.; c2000 covers development not only in humans but other species including plants. As such, some of the material will not be directly relevant to human development, but should be used comparatively or as a model.
The entire text and images is available free online from the NCBI Bookshelf. You can either click the provided links or do your own search using the search link.
Molecular Biology of the Cell 3rd ed. Alberts, Bruce; Bray, Dennis; Lewis, Julian; Raff, Martin; Roberts, Keith; Watson, James D. New York and London: Garland Publishing; c1994. is the Cell Biology "bible". While the online version is not the latest edition it is comprehensive in its coverage.
The entire text and images is available free online from the NCBI Bookshelf. You can either click the provided links or do your own search using the search link.
Image: Comparison Meiosis and normal cell division
Search Molecular Biology of the Cell
MBoC Cited PubMed References - meiosis
Molecular Cell Biology. 4th ed. Lodish, Harvey; Berk, Arnold; Zipursky, S. Lawrence; Matsudaira, Paul; Baltimore, David; Darnell, James E. New York: W. H. Freeman & Co.; c1999.
13.2. Biochemical Studies with Oocytes, Eggs, and Early Embryos
The Cell - A Molecular Approach. 2nd ed. Cooper, Geoffrey M. Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates, Inc.
Endocrinology: An Integrated Approach. Nussey, S.S. and Whitehead, S.A. Oxford, UK: BIOS Scientific Publishers, Ltd; 2001.
Menstrual Cycle - describes the regular changes that occur in females as part of the reproductive cycle.
Week 1 - describes fertilization and related issues.
Week 2 - describes the process of embryo implantation during the second week.
This excellent resource is provided by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Center for Biological Information (NCBI) website. The NCBI site in addition to having key databases for genomic and molecular biology research, and PubMed literature database, has setup a Bookshelf providing free online full cross-referenced and searchable textbooks. The OMIM resource (above) is also located within the NCBI website.
This database is probably a bit advanced to use at this stage, but as your knowledge grows, should be an ongoing invaluable resource to give a medical "snapshot" of a genetic disorder or topic.
Try a search of the database with a keyword from this current practical or a specific genetic disease. Search OMIM
Link to next page in this Practical 3 - Practical 3 Histology
This is the second background page showing links to relevant online histology.
Laboratory 4 Covers later stages of development in the fetus.
Advanced note - a few genes are also located in each cell outside the nucleus, in mitochondria (mitochondrial DNA) which are involved in cellular respiration. These mitochondrial genes are always inherited from your mother (the egg) not your father (sperm).
Movie of Human Embryo Growth (this shows a human embryo growing, all images are to scale)
Movie of Mouse Embryo Growth (this shows a mouse embryo growing)
Home Page
Embryo stages
Fetal Dev
Dev Notes 1
Dev Notes 2
System Notes
Acknowledgements
Practical 3
Introduction
Ovary
Gametes
Week 1 Overview
Fertilization
Early Division
Implantation
Day 8-9
Day 10-12
Day 13-14
Stage 6-7
Gastrulation
Week 3
Notochord
Background- Online Refs
Background- Histology
Practical 4
Practical 11
Lecture 5
Lecture 6
Movies
News
Class Notes
Serial Images
K12 Students
Abnormal
Histology
Site Map
School of Med Sci
UNSW Medicine
University of NSW
UNSW Cell Biology
NCBI Books
Dev Biol (Gilbert)
Use this page to view linked Online textbooks from NLM as background to this practical. For additional detailed/specific research references, use the righthand link to PubMed results. In most cases, unless it is a review article, these references are probably too detailed for this current level of study.
There are several excellent textbooks (by Larsen, Moore and Persaud, Carlsson, Langman, Gilbert and Sunderland to name a few) that alone would be sufficient for your coverage of this entire topic. Some of which have some online content.
Until we have easy to read PDAs, do not discount the value of being able to read a book anywhere and anytime.
In addition, there are a growing number of excellent online texts. The advantage of these online resources is mainly their searchability and cross referenced links. The second advantage should be the availability of multimedia (animations, movies etc). This multimedia is particularly valuable in Embryology when everything is so small and inaccessible, but unfortunately there are currently very few multimedia resources yet developed. I have a small number of UNSW Embryology animations and movies that you should look at, in particular those based on Larsen's textbook.
Please email Dr Mark Hill if you wish to make a comment about this current project.