Whole embryo culture: a “New” technique that enabled decades of mechanistic discoveries

Abstract

Denis New's development of the rodent whole embryo culture (WEC) method in the early 1960s was a groundbreaking achievement that gave embryologists and teratologists an unprecedented degree of access to the developing postimplantation rodent embryo. In the five decades since its development, WEC has enabled detailed investigations into the regulation of normal embryo development as well as a plethora of research on mechanisms of teratogenesis as induced by a wide range of agents. In addition, WEC is one of the few techniques that has been validated for use in teratogenicity screening of drugs and chemicals. In this review, we retrace the steps leading to New's development of WEC, and highlight many examples in which WEC played a crucial role leading to important discoveries in teratological research. The impact of WEC on the field of teratology has been enormous, and it is anticipated that WEC will remain a preferred tool for teratologists and embryologists seeking to interrogate embryo development for many years to come.