Development of Early Reptile Embryos in vitro

Abstract

HITHERTO, the experimental investigation of early reptile embryos has lagged far behind that of fishes, amphibians and birds. Vital marking has been carried out in Chelonia, where the hardness of the shell has made in ovo techniques possible¹, but no transplantation experiments appear to have been performed. Such experiments cannot be done in ovo because of the difficulty of manipulating tissues which lie beneath the vitelline membrane. This limitation, however, does not apply to material cultured in vitro. An attempt has been made, therefore, to find out if young reptile embryos can be grown successfully in vitro.