Advances in Rabbit Embryo Culture during Organogenesis

Modified rodent embryo culture techniques were used to maintain 10 1/2 day rabbit embryos in vitro for up to 24 hr. In homologous, immediately centrifuged, heat inactivated serum containing 2 μCi/ml 3 H-thymidine, observed status was consistently high at 12 hr but fell thereafter. Liquid scintillation counting and autoradiography revealed rapid uptake of radioactivity during the first 12 hr. The splanchnopleure of the inverted yolk-sac is only partially vascularised in the rabbit and is thus inadequate as a medium of metabolic exchange in extended culture. Nevertheless, this technique will enable a study of the morphology and biochemistry of teratology in vitro in a sensitive species.