Nanae Freshwater Station, Field Science Center for
Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University YAMAHA Etsuro
Developmental engineering is the technology
of artificially modifying an individual’s genes, chromosomes, genome, nucleus
and cytoplasm, and cellular make-up to create organisms that are fit for a
particular purpose. These techniques have been used successfully in the
breeding of crop varieties and in animal husbandry, and are also being studied
in fish. Developmental engineering of a certain fish species requires an
understanding of the “body-building mechanism” of the fish. In other words, it
is necessary to understand how the various cells of the body are produced from
a single cell, the fertilized egg, in order to make modifications that are
suitable for the purpose. This lecture will explain the mechanism by which the “body”
is produced from the fertilized egg of the fish, and how the methods used to analyze
it are linked to applications.
