Embryonic development through to the birth of a healthy child is without doubt one of biology's most startling achievements and one we tend to take for granted. The process is immensely complex and much remains to be learned about the basic underlying mechanism and its rare, but painful, failure. In some cases, such as neural tube defects in diabetic pregnancy, a cause can be delineated (Click here for related BRC study). In others, such as Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, which affects 1 in 8000 births, basic research is still required to understand the process and its error.

Historically the study of development and polarity has been a driving force behind a number of the technologies currently available and advanced through the BRC. Unequal, patterned and polarized electric fields, working in their own right or through their constituent flux of charged ions, have been recognized as real or potential mechanisms in developmental control. ⁶ The roles of calcium as regulating waves and second messenger events have formed key areas of research^20,22 recently being coupled with metabolic events through mitochondrial activity.^4,9 Calcium events and proton flux have also been studied in rapidly growing polarized structures.^2,3,5,7

Developmental problems focusing on the role of ion and molecular flux have also taken advantage of the advanced electrochemical approaches available through our self-referencing core activities. This has included observations on the movement of ions of calcium, potassium and hydrogen, as well as oxygen and ascorbate transport. A particularly interesting series of papers defined the two-pore potassium channel as a root player in early mammalian embryonic apoptosis (programmed cell death), an important component of controlled development. ^8,12

Unlike many of the other thematic areas of study within the BRC, development still takes advantage of several non-mammalian model systems such as sea urchins, tunicates and amphibians. As these models are readily available at the MBL, and the integrated technologies available are at an ideal state to focus on questions of development and polarity, the BRC hosts a focused module in this area, coordinated by Professor K. Robinson of Purdue. Our current emphasis is on the underlying mechanisms behind left/right asymmetry.