What is “developmental biology”?
Summarized into just one sentence, the developmental biology studies the processes and the mechanisms by which they are carried out that are related to the growth and development of the living organisms. I know what you’re thinking: “Can this description get any more vague?”. And you are absolutely right. From a certain perspective every biological process can be regarded as directly or indirectly related to either the growth or the development of the living organisms. This is why complicated disciplines in science can hardly ever be described properly in a single sentence…or three.
Further in this introductory page for our website we will describe what are the particular subjects of study of the developmental biology, it’s goals, prospects, and ultimately its applications in the real life. Bear with us, because it is one of the most fascinating and multidisciplinary fields of study in biology but also in the medical science.
So, what exactly does the developmental biology study?
Being, as mentioned above, a multidisciplinary field, the developmental biology studies a wide range of processes – from the gametogenesis (the formation of egg cells and sperm cells), through the stages of prenatal development, the postnatal development, growth and eventually the aging of the organisms. It has multiple subfields, such as embryology (the study of prenatal development) and gerontology (the study of aging). To be fair, there isn’t a unified opinion on where one field ends and another begins as they overlap on multiple levels. This is precisely why we will not even try to draw a line where the developmental biology ends and another fields begins and neither will we try to do the same between the separate disciplines within the developmental biology itself. Any attempt at putting these studies in a rigidly separated table will be nothing short of a mistake – they are all parts of a network, overlapped and entangled between each other at levels of such complexity that many processes are not yet fully known or understood. Instead, we will present interesting facts, correlations, explanations, tips and advice related to the practical laboratory work. We’ll try to not overdo it, but we cannot resist the temptation to also publish some speculative theories or brain teasers (of course, based on known facts) about still opened questions.
Who are the people behind this website?
We are a group of biologists and biotechnologists with specializations in molecular biology, entomology, microbiology, aquatic biology and plant biotechnology. What we have in common is that the developmental biology is a hobby for all of us and we like to explore it from the perspectives of our own backgrounds which makes for an interesting discussion in which we hope you will eventually join.