At the end of the course having followed the (response) lectures and the practical study assignments (obligatory) including Versatest, the student is able to:

1. understand the basic principles of development and organogenesis in the various animal models including the differentiation of the nervous system, the cardio-vascular system, digestive system and the urogenital system.
2. recognize and name parts of developing different organ systems.
3. to set a timing in the consecutive embryonic and fetal developmental stages and recognize the different organ systems in random transversal, sagittal and horizontal sections of the mouse embryo in the different phases of development.
4. indicate how embryonic appendices will be formed, including the molecules and concepts involved.

The development of a fertilized ovum to a multicellular organism is a remarkable triumph of evolution. During the human embryonic development one cell will divide to millions of cells that together will form complex organ systems. In the last century, the descriptive embryology has given us an overview of the formational changes that an organism needs to go through from its existence till its adulthood. In this century, the human embryology encounters an exciting new era as molecular underpinnings of developmental processes are getting clearer.

This course initially deals with the basal aspects of developmental biology such as the development of the major animal models, description of developmental stages and the fundamental molecular processes in development. Later in the course, the lectures will discuss the early embryonic development of human (formation of the three germ layers, neurulation, and organogenesis), the fetus-mother relationship and the molecular-physiological mechanisms that drive the development of an embryo. Animal models and human organogenesis will be studied by live observations accompanied by assignments in which microscopical slides and illustrations are central. A digital learning environment is created to interactively rehearse and test the course material. In the teratological part of the course disorders are discussed that can appear during embryonic and fetal (mal)development. The demonstrations will be held in the Pathological Museum of the UMC St Radboud, where specimens of human embryos can be studied that have a certain form of misdevelopment.