One of the most amazing events in biology is the development of a fertilized egg into a complex, mature organism with diverse cell types, tissues, and organs. The field of developmental biology seeks to understand the mechanisms controlling this remarkable process. To do so, developmental biologists use techniques developed in the areas of genetics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and cell biology and ideas derived from the study of gene expression, cell motility, signal transduction and others. As many human diseases such as cancer are really diseases of normal development gone awry, there is also overlap between developmental biology and areas such as cancer biology. Within our department, labs study developmental processes in several model systems, including the cellular amoeba Dictyostelium, the alga Volvox, the plant Arabidopsis, the roundworm C. elegans, as well as prostate and nervous system development in the mouse.
Immunology is a branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms.[1] It deals with the physiological functioning of the immune system in states of both health and diseases; malfunctions of the immune system in immunological disorders (autoimmune diseases, hypersensitivities, immune deficiency, transplant rejection); the physical, chemical and physiological characteristics of the components of the immune system in vitro, in situ, and in vivo. Immunology has applications in several disciplines of science, and as such is further divided.
Even before the concept of immunity (from immunis, Latin for "exempt") was developed, numerous early physicians characterized organs that would later prove to be part of the immune system. The key primary lymphoid organs of the immune system are the thymus and bone marrow, and secondary lymphatic tissues such as spleen, tonsils, lymph vessels, lymph nodes, adenoids, andskin and liver. When health conditions warrant, immune system organs including the thymus, spleen, portions of bone marrow, lymph nodes and secondary lymphatic tissues can be surgicallyexcised for examination while patients are still alive.
Many components of the immune system are actually cellular in nature and not associated with any specific organ but rather are embedded or circulating in various tissues located throughout the body.
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