This chapter introduces the reader to molecules and cellular processes that take part in the formation of the eye. The basic question of embryology is how a single cell, the fertilized egg, gives rise to a complex organism. Classical embryology has provided an important framework for the anatomic description of this process and identified some of its component events. More recently, the application of genetic and biochemical methods has begun to uncover many of the molecular mechanisms that guide development.

This chapter introduces the reader to molecules and cellular processes that take part in the formation of the eye. The basic question of embryology is how a single cell, the fertilized egg, gives rise to a complex organism. Classical embryology has provided an important framework for the anatomic description of this process and identified some of its component events. More recently, the application of genetic and biochemical methods has begun to uncover many of the molecular mechanisms that guide development.