The International Journal of Developmental Biology

Int. J. Dev. Biol. 62: 19 - 33 (2018)

https://doi.org/10.1387/ijdb.170287NL

Vol 62, Issue 1-2-3

Special Issue: The Chick Embryo Model System

A life in Science with the avian embryo

Special Contribution | Published: 19 January 2018

Nicole M. Le Douarin*

Sorbonne Universités, UPMC Univ Paris 06, INSERM, CNRS, Institut de la Vision, Paris, France

Abstract

My career in research was a second thought. I first (during 8 years) worked as a secondary school teacher and after 4-5 years, during which my two daughters were born, I found a way to escape from what was to be a lifetime job. For two years, my initiation to research was limited to the free time left by my teaching duties. This period of time was a bit “complicated” but not enough to prevent me to realize that research was really what I wanted to do for the rest of my life… And this was when I became acquainted with the chick embryo. This companionship later became extended to another representative of the avian world: the quail (Coturnix coturnix japonica). I recall in the following lines a survey of scientific stories that came out from my association with these precious animals, ... not without a feeling of gratitude.

Keywords

quail-chick chimera, cell marking technique, neural crest, neural stem cell, tolerance to self

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