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Mary Ann Nyc
Undergraduate Student


        

"What lies behind us and what lies
before us are tiny matters compared
to what lies within us."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I am an undergraduate student working on an independent research project to study the functional role of proepicardium (PE)-derived tissues and neural crest cells in normal heart development. By inducing a loss of function on PE cells via 1) installing a barrier egg shell membrane between PE cells and the heart and 2) using photodynamic therapy (Rose Bengal) to cause select tissue damage, I hope to determine the role of PE cells. Similarly, by removing neural crest cells in chick embryos and introducing quail neural crest cells, I hope to follow the natural marker in determining its significance in heart development.




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Figure 1:
Superior interatrial septum in a stage 19 chick embryo.
The red codes for some blood cells and the successful
migration of quail cells. The blue and green are
measures of the amount of permanent tissue and
conduction system present thus far.


Figure 2:
Anterior view of the ventricles and apex of the heart
in stage 19 chick embryos. The red shows possible
formation of epicardium by quail neural crest cells.