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The influence of gravity on the process of development of animal systems
1Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington 47405, USA.
Advances in Space Research : the Official Journal of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR)
|January 1, 1984
Abstract:
The development of animal systems is described in terms of a series of overlapping phases: pattern specification; differentiation; growth; and aging. The extent to which altered (micro) gravity (g) affects those phases is briefly reviewed for several animal systems. As a model, amphibian egg/early embryo is described. Recent data derived from clinostat protocols indicates that microgravity simulation alters early pattern specification (dorsal/ventral polarity) but does not adversely influence subsequent morphogenesis. Possible explanations for the absence of catastrophic microgravity effects on amphibian embryogenesis are discussed.