Much of what we have learned about human embryogenesis is derived from basic studies on embryonic development in the rodent, primarily mice and rats. These tissues are also extremely useful in cancer research, as mice and rats are two of only a few species of mammals that have produced self-renewing embryonic stem cells. The availability of rodent stem cells increases the chances of success in testing the ability of in vitro stem cell differentiation to create specialized cells that can assimilate and function in adult human tissue regeneration and repair. The images in this gallery were captured with a ZEISS LSM 710 using rat and mouse tissue sections of 30-micrometer thickness.
