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Vertebrate reproductive science and technology
RESEARCH ARTICLE

Whole-genome approaches for large-scale gene identification and expression analysis in mammalian preimplantation embryos

James Adjaye
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Ihnestrasse 73, D-14195 Berlin, Germany. Email: adjaye@molgen.mpg.de

Reproduction, Fertility and Development 17(2) 37-45 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD04075
Submitted: 1 August 2004  Accepted: 1 October 2004   Published: 1 January 2005

Abstract

The elucidation, unravelling and understanding of the molecular basis of transcriptional control during preimplantion development is of utmost importance if we are to intervene and eliminate or reduce abnormalities associated with growth, disease and infertility by applying assisted reproduction. Importantly, these studies should enhance our knowledge of basic reproductive biology and its application to regenerative medicine and livestock production. A major obstacle impeding progress in these areas is the ability to successfully generate molecular portraits of preimplantation embryos from their minute amounts of RNA. The present review describes the various approaches whereby classical embryology fuses with molecular biology, high-throughput genomics and systems biology to address and solve questions related to early development in mammals.

Extra keywords: bioinformatics, cDNA libraries, embryonic cells, gene expression, microarrays, preimplantation development, RNA amplification, signalling pathways, systems biology.


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