Embryology Lab Report

In science, reporting what has been done in a laboratory setting is incredibly important for communicating, replicating, and validating findings. However, writing scientific reports can be a little overwhelming. There are a set of agreed upon components that the scientific community requires when reporting scientific research. Answer the following questions to describe what occurred during the lab you conducted in Labster. Be sure to use complete sentences and descriptions that fully represent what you experienced. Writing a lab report is less about being correct or incorrect, than it is accurately reporting what happened and why. So, do not worry about reporting data that might seem counterintuitive or unexpected. Focus on clearly communicating what you did and what you observed. Is your assignment devastating you ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com. Our homework help will save you tons of time and energy required for your assignment papers.

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Title

What was the title of the lab you completed?

Embryology: Discover the Genetics of Limb Development Virtual Lab

Topic

What was the subject you were trying to understand better in the lab?

Development and Inheritance: Embryology.

Background Information

What information from the textbook and classroom is relevant for the subject you were learning about in the lab? Identify the concepts and explain how they are related to the lab topic.

The textbook was helpful as it provided information about the major stages involved in embryonic development, including the pre-implantation embryonic development, which occurs after fertilization, the cleavage and blastula stages, implantation, embryogenesis (gastrulation), the development of the placenta, and organogenesis.

During the lab, what information from the Theory section provided additional background information about the subject? (To review the theory section, launch the Lab and click the “Theory” tab on the top of the data pad). Identify the concepts and explain how they are related to the lab topic.

The Theory section also provided relevant learning material on embryology, embryo development, model organisms (species used to study certain biological aspects), the Hamburger-Hamilton series, Liebenberg syndrome, gene expression, and Next Generation Sequencing. The section explains that embryology studies the anatomical development of an organism. Conversely, embryo development is the process by which organisms develop from single-celled zygotes to multicellular organisms (django-Wiki, 2017). According to the Theory section, the stages involved in embryo development include fertilization, cleavage stage, blastula stage, gastrulation, organogenesis, and vertebrate formation (django-Wiki, 2017). Further, the Hamburger-Hamilton series is a series in which chick embryos are staged; each stage has been characterized, timed, and completely recognizable. In addition, Liebenberg syndrome is a condition characterized by stiff elbow joints and fused wrist bones, and the arms of patients with Liebenberg syndrome resemble legs. Misexpression of a homeotic gene causes this partial transformation. Finally, the section explains the role of gene expression and describes the techniques used to measure gene expression levels, such as Next Generation Sequencing (NGS).

Most scientific observation involves examining phenomena or processes. What phenomenon or process were you observing in the lab? What were you able to change and explore? What did the simulation not allow to change?

The lab involved examining the embryonic development of model organisms (chicken and mouse embryos) and comparing the genetic results from these model organisms to the genetic laboratory results from a human case study to find out the genetic mutations that affect limb development in Liebenberg Syndrome.

Method

Describing what you did during a lab supports other scientists in replicating your work. It is through this consistent replication that scientists can see repeating patterns and develop ideas that help move science forward. When you discuss your observations, in a later section, you will have to describe, in detail, what you did. You may also have to describe what choices you made, why you made them, and any concerns about things that occurred that were unexpected. To have enough information to do this, you need to keep detailed notes. What does not seem important in the moment may end up being something that explains your findings later. A benefit of conducting virtual labs when learning science is that many potential errors are controlled for you. The virtual lab environment often will alert you if something is not going the way it should. This does not occur in non-virtual settings. The virtual lab setting can be very helpful to learners for this reason. However, we still have to practice documenting so that those skills are practiced for the lab experiences when technology will not be there as a coach.

You have already described the phenomenon or process that you studied in the lab in the previous section. Now, take some time to fully describe the steps you took during the lab. Do not include the process of you logging into the lab in your description. For this virtual lab, a short, high-level summary will suffice.

The lab involved four major steps: finding out what determines whether a body grows a hind or a fore limb, investigating a patient’s family genetic condition, experimenting with embryonic development, and comparing gene expression levels. To figure out what determines whether a body grows a hind or a fore limb, I windowed a chicken egg and deciphered the Hamburger-Hamilton stages of the chicken embryo through light microscopy. Then, I supplemented my observations with NGS of mice embryos to identify the genes in limb development. Secondly, I investigated a patient’s inherited genetic condition. I identified the genes involved in hind and fore limb development using NGS of mouse limb bud RNA and made a hypothesis about the mutated gene in Liebenberg Syndrome. Thirdly, experimented with embryonic development. In this step, I incubated chicken eggs, windowed them at different times, and observed morphological changes through light microscopy. I also compared the morphological and genetic similarities between the model organisms and a human embryo. Next, I analyzed NGS data to hypothesize the effect of incorrect gene expression on limb development. Fourthly, I used NGS to determine the gene expression levels in healthy subjects, predicted the effects of incorrect gene expression in limb development, and determined the gene mutations that cause Liebenberg Syndrome.

Describe some of the observations you made. What did you write down or keep track of? What did each of your senses observe during the lab process? What did you see (e.g., changes in colors, movement, shapes, sizes, patterns)? What, if anything, did you measure? What did you hear (e.g., sounds from reactions, collisions, error messages)? What did your lab character touch? Did you notice anything that seemed unexpected? Did you notice anything that you did not expect to observe?

I observed the embryonic stages of development of the model organisms (the chick and mouse embryos). I kept track of the different characteristics of the chick embryo observed at different stages. Additionally, my lab character could touch the eggs from the incubator, the light microscope, the microscope slide, and the scalpel to gently cut the window into the eggshell without harming the embryo.

Which parts of the lab required you to think more than others and required more time? Which parts were simple and completed easily?

The part involving Next Generation Sequencing and analyzing data from this technique took more time than the other parts. Nevertheless, all parts of the lab were simple and easily completed. Remarkably, I enjoyed the part involving examining chick embryonic development using a light microscope.

Observations

Many lessons learned from scientific research come from the reporting and analysis of data and observations. This part of scientific reporting requires detailed descriptions of technical information and observations as well as high-level synthesis of information. High-level synthesis requires proficiency in foundational content in the related scientific field and a complementary proficiency in a field of quantitative and/or qualitative analysis. For this report, let’s focus on big picture patterns.

What did you notice about the phenomenon or process you explored?

I noticed that embryonic development follows several stages: fertilization, cleavage stage, blastula stage, gastrulation, organogenesis, and vertebrate formation. In addition, I noticed that an incorrect gene expression level of a homeotic gene during limb development leads to Liebenberg syndrome.

Describe any information about the phenomenon or process that you learned.

Correct gene expression is important in embryonic development. Therefore, mutations or incorrect expression of genes lead to genetic health conditions. For instance, an incorrect expression level of the homeotic gene during limb development results in Liebenberg syndrome.

Discussion

The discussion section is used to explain why things might have happened the way that they did in your research. Here, scientists describe any potential anomalies or mistakes and why they think they may have occurred.

During your lab, what happened that might have impacted the accuracy of your observations? Did the simulation alert you that an error was occurring? If so, how did you resolve it?

Harming the embryo when cutting the eggshell would have impacted the accuracy of my observations regarding the morphology of the embryo. Nonetheless, I conducted this step carefully and gently to avoid harming the embryo. After all, this was a virtual lab, implying that all other related errors were eliminated. Also, I did not receive an alert warning me of any error.

The discussion section also is used to summarize big ideas from the lab. What were the important learnings about the phenomenon or process from the lab?

I learned the following from this lab;

Embryology is the study of the anatomical development of an organism.
Embryo development is the process by which organisms develop from single-celled zygotes to multicellular organisms (django-Wiki, 2017).
Stages involved in embryo development include fertilization, cleavage stage, blastula stage, gastrulation, organogenesis, and vertebrate formation (django-Wiki, 2017).
Correct gene expression is important in embryonic development.
Mutations or incorrect expression of genes cause genetic health conditions.
An incorrect expression level of the homeotic gene during limb development results in Liebenberg syndrome.

Conclusion

The conclusion section of a lab report describes how the learnings from the lab research fit into prior scientific knowledge. This is done by comparing new information to previously known information that was identified in the section of your report that discusses background information.

Review the background information section of your report from above and describe how the results of your lab compare to the information that you discussed before.

Once scientists have identified how new knowledge fits into old knowledge, they discuss the implications of the new information for moving forward. In this class, the purpose of study is to learn some foundational science ideas represented by the course learning outcomes. Review the course learning outcome aligned to this lab in the assignment directions in Blackboard. How is the information from this lab related to the course learning outcome? What knowledge has the lab supported you with learning that is related to this course learning outcome?

This lab aligns with the course learning outcome concerning understanding the various human body systems and how they change and develop throughout one’s life. As such, this lab helped me explore and understand embryonic development, the stages involved, and the role of gene expression. Notably, the knowledge from the lab that supported me with the course learning outcome includes windowing a chicken egg, dissecting a limb bud, and identifying different Hamilton-Hamburger stages of the chicken embryo.

Following scientific research, scientists usually produce new questions that result from what they learned. These new questions often end up leading to future research. What additional scientific things did you wonder about after completing and writing about your lab experience?

What other condition(s) could the misexpression of homeotic genes cause besides Liebenberg syndrome?

References

django-wiki. (2017). Welcome to the embryology simulation – labster theory. Retrieved November 16, 2022, from https://theory.labster.com/welcome_embryology/.

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