Is anyone nervous about Embryology??

[E'01]

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This is going to sound so silly and ignorant, but my main fear (and it's been so for a long long time now - like since high school) is taking embryology. I guess I first became traumatized when my aunt gave me her old nursing textbooks in high school to review. I remember opening them in the quiet confines of my bedroom only to slam them shut in fear, because of the pictures I saw. Last year, I went through the text that Harvard uses for Embryology, and I couldn't believe what I saw. I was only able to turn the pages because I had my boyfriend (now ex) do it. I KNOW I'm being completely irrational but I'm just nervous - my aunt gave me this antique-looking textbook last night on Skin Disorders, and I got all jittery again - I'm also in the middle of reading "The Boy Who felt NO Pain" by Robert, Marion MD - and each chapter refers to a patient he has seen. My gosh, after reading the chapter on "the boy who had no face" I was in complete shock. This poor baby had a very rare disorder where he had no eyes ye his eyelids were placed about his ears, he had 2 clefts for nose and a cleft that originated from his forehead to where his mouth should be. He also had 3 horns protruding from his skull (enphacoeles?? I can't spell it). I know these sort of disorders are rare, and I truly felt it for the family and child, but it was kind of scary to read nonetheless. Sorry for goin on and on

 

[Trek]

That makes me scared to have kids, nevermind just read about it!!!!! --Trek

 

[kutastha]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by E'01:
•This poor baby had a very rare disorder where he had no eyes ye his eyelids were placed about his ears, he had 2 clefts for nose and a cleft that originated from his forehead to where his mouth should be. He also had 3 horns protruding from his skull (enphacoeles?? I can't spell it). I know these sort of disorders are rare, and I truly felt it for the family and child, but it was kind of scary to read nonetheless. Sorry for goin on and on•••••You become conditioned to it I'm sure. I did a report once on neural tube disorders and saw many such examples of exencephaly and anencephaly. Tragic yes, but part of the process we must go through.

 

[E'01]

Thanks for listening and the input. I suppose you do get somewhat conditioned particularly if that's the field you end up specializing in (i.e. genetic disorders).

Trek, I thought the same thing - especially since I'll be an older mum when I decide to have kids (after residency)

 

[DarksideAllstar]

Yeah, I think sometimes embryology freaks me out, but I am more worried about Histology. Looking at countless slides and then REMEMBERING what everything is!?!?! I am screwed.

 

[eagle26]

Not scared...yet. Wait till you start reading about pattern formation and concentration gradients in the formation of ecto, meso, endoderm...and of course our favorite pattern formation protein named sonic hedgehog...TRUE! 😀

 

[E'01]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by eagle26:
•Not scared...yet. Wait till you start reading about pattern formation and concentration gradients in the formation of ecto, meso, endoderm...and of course our favorite pattern formation protein named sonic hedgehog...TRUE! 😀 •••••Er what do you mean by that? What DOES sonic do? I've heard of it, but never took the time to find out what it does.

OOOOhhhh I forget about histo. I'd rather that then embryo. though

 

[eagle26]

I honestly don't remember what sonic does; I just can't get the name out of my head. They should name more proteins after video games..LOL

 

[DarksideAllstar]

I recall it having something to do with some Hox genes or something like that . I watched this video in my DNA and cloning seminar and it had these guys with crazy hair in it. I wish that I hadn't slept through it. Anyway, I guess all organisms have different numbers of copies of these Hox genes. I don't really know. Anyhow here is a link:
<a href="http://www.devbio.com/chap06/link0603.shtml" target="_blank">hedgehog page</a>

 

[Amy B]

I am taking Embryology right now as a undergraduate course. Its 5 credits and includes the lab. The lab is so coool. We have been in class since january and have just now finished gastrulation. I had no idea how complicated the whole process was. We aren't going to cover even a half of what is in the book. It is the hardest Bio class at my school and I am begining to see why as the material builds.

I dread the comprehensive final in May. The tests are essays, matching, short answer, fill in the blank, ID slides, etc......

I hope this will make it easier for me in med school.

 

[pheck]

check out Simbryo and let me know what you think. thanks!

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

i've worked in surgery for nine years.....and just so you feel better.....you do become conditioned to a lot of things.....I remember the first teratoma i saw (dermoid cyst)......
when we opened it up....we saw part of a nose...some teeth..a lot of hair...really gross to say the least....

but.....with time you get used to things....


so...don't worry about seeing things your not used to or afraid of seeing....it's life...and you have to deal with it ( at least for a while) if you go into medicine.


p.s. i'm thinking you probably won't go into pathology!

 

[SM-UCLA tech]

indo.....

that's the teratoma i'm talking about.....it's also known as a dermoid cyst............ the laymen's term is "hairy tumor"

and they are found in many different areas of the body

most of the ones that i see are in the ovaries...but they are also very common in the testes i believe

 

[pheck]

i apologize...i was the one that restarted this thread from march. just was searching around for what people were saying about embryology.

yeah, teratomas are nasty suckers. they can get huge. i remember reading in the news a couple years ago about this 50 lbs teratoma they took out of this obese woman. or maybe it was even 100 lbs. nasty. they are germ cell tumors that are usually found anywhere midline in the body. most are benign, although there are some variants with metastatic potential.

 

[chapinsita]

Sonic Hedgehog Protein (SHP) is a signaling molecule, a member of the Hedgehog signaling molecules. How do sister cells differentiate if they are derived from the same cell? One way is by a morphogen gradient. Sonic hedgehog protein is a morphogen. Specifically it controls the characters of limb cells from the thumb to the pinky finger. The further from the source of SHP the cell is, the more likely for it to become a pinky finger cell (or the other way around, I'm not too sure now). Anyway, just a quick refresher for all of you playstation fans. 😉 P.S. I learned that in developmental cell bio, not embryology. I loved it and I can't wait to take the advanced embryo class! That stuff is really amazing!