1 2 3 4 5

		Joint formation in chick limb bud CAM grafts Jessica N. White and Heather G. Sternshein Swarthmore College Abstract Choriallantoic membrane (CAM) limb grafting functions as a method to isolate the inductive events of limb formation. Experimenters have the ability to isolate and culture tissues outside the original organism and apart from influencing factors and other simultaneously-differentiating tissues exogenous to the limb. Tissue formation occurs in grafted limbs since both oxygen and nutrients from the host circulatory system pass to grafted tissues. However, several key molecular mechanisms involved in joint formation in intact chick embryos detailed by Pacifici et al. (2002) may or may not be present in limbs detached from the embryo body, as in CAM limb grafts. This experiment seeks to determine if normal joint formation can occur in CAM-grafted chick limb buds. All limbs were extracted at day seven of experimentation when chick embryos and grafts were approximately fifteen days old. Within our limb graft group, however, joint formation was not regular. 12.5% (two of sixteen) grafts (exclusively wing grafts) did not form joints. We propose that CAM grafting with eight day old grafts cannot yet be determined as an effective method for joint formation experimentation.
		J. N. White 5/13/04