Developmental Toxicology

This book's first chapter, written by Felix Beck, is entitled "Model Systems in Teratology Research." Beck reviews the in vivo systems used by regulatory agencies and pharmaceutical companies to test drugs for potential teratogenicity and points out that they frequently are in error. Species differences in placentation is important in determining differences in the teratogenic potential of certain agents. Beck also discusses the use of in vivo techniques and other methods to study mechanisms of teratogenesis; later, he deals with in vitro techniques and discusses embryo culture, which was developed by New. He reviews some data that indicate that embryo culture can confirm teratogenesis in vivo and determine which metabolites may be responsible for teratogenesis. He does not discuss the merits of using embryo culture as an initial technique although he does say, "The teratogenic potential of various human sera might conceivably be assessed by this means and in this