Investigating the Development of the Digestive Tract Intestinal
malrotation occurs in as many as 1 in 500 human births (0.2% of
the population) and poses significant risk for life-threatening
complications in babies and children. No clear inheritance
pattern has been identified for intestinal malrotation,
suggesting a multifactorial etiology involving genetic,
epigenetic and/or environmental causes. Normal digestive anatomy
is a consequence of the dramatic elongation, left-right
asymmetric looping and rotation of the primitive gut tube during
fetal development, but the cellular and molecular mechanisms
underlying these events in gut morphogenesis are poorly
understood. Our lab employs chemical genetic strategies in
amphibian embryos to investigate the mechanisms of digestive
tract morphogenesis, understand the etiology of intestinal
malrotation, and define the effects of chemicals and toxins on
gut development. Amphibian embryos, such as those of the frog,
Xenopus laevis (left), have provided important insigh