Le Douarin · Mechanisms of development 2004 · narrative review · n=?

The avian embryo as a model to study the development of the neural crest: a long and still ongoing story.

Cited 143 times in the scientific literature.

Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data

Narrative review of basic animal and embryonic developmental biology (CEBM Level 5).

PubMed 15296974 · doi:10.1016/j.mod.2004.06.003 · record verified 2026-08-26

What was done

This narrative review summarizes historical progress and experimental approaches in vertebrate neural crest research from its discovery in 1868 onward, focusing on the role of avian embryonic models and quail-chick chimeras in studying cell migration, differentiation, and gene manipulation.

What was found

The abstract reports no numerical findings or quantitative metrics. It summarizes qualitatively that quail-chick chimeric models enabled researchers to map normal neural crest cell migration, lineage differentiation, and regulatory cellular interactions.

Why it matters

Avian chimeric models established foundational knowledge of vertebrate neural crest biology, which modern spatiotemporal genetic manipulation techniques continue to expand.

Limits

As a narrative review, it lacks systematic search criteria, quality appraisal, and data pooling. The discussed findings are based entirely on non-human animal developmental models (amphibian and avian), and no quantitative results are provided in the abstract.

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