Helobdella (leech): a model for developmental studies
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Localized RNAi and Ectopic Gene Expression in the Medicinal Leech
Published on: April 17, 2008
David A Weisblat1, Dian-Han Kuo
1Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200, USA. weisblat@berkeley.edu
Cold Spring Harbor Protocols
|February 12, 2010
Abstract:
Helobdella is a genus of freshwater leeches, several species of which have been used for developmental studies since the 1970s. Helobdella embryos have been used for cell-lineage tracing and dye-mediated photoablation, and they have also been very useful for studies in cellular neurobiology. In this article, we discuss the reasons that Helobdella is used for studying development and some of the questions that are addressed through the use of this organism.
