Biology of Development and Differentiation

The course aims at providing the necessary tools for understanding the genetic, molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the development and differentiation of multicellular organisms. In particular, the course has the following specific educational objectives: 1. provide the tools to understand the role of biological processes, such as proliferation, cell death, cell-cell communication and cell migration, during development and differentiation; 2. provide the tools to understand the applicability of different techniques of gene editing and of the different animal models to study the mechanisms of development and differentiation; 3. provide tools for understanding the role of genes and their mutations in the pathogenesis of genetic diseases by using different animal models and experimental approaches.

At the end of the course the student should have basic knowledge on the cellular, molecular and genetic mechanisms that govern the development and differentiation of multicellular organisms. In particular, the student should know how the mechanisms of proliferation, cell death, gene expression, cell-cell communication are integrated during the development of multicellular organisms. The student must be able to understand the scientific and methodological approach used for the functional study of genes / proteins involved in developmental and differentiation biology, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using different animal models in biomedical research.