Animal development is a spectacular process and represents a masterpiece of temporal and spatial control of gene expression. Developmental genetics is a very helpful discipline. It studies the effect that genes have in a phenotype, given normal or abnormal epigenetic parameters. The findings of developmental biology can help to understand developmental malfunctions such as chromosomal aberrations, for example, Down syndrome. An understanding of the specialization of cells during embryogenesis may yield information on how to specialize stem cells to specific tissues and organs, which could lead to the specific cloning of organs for medical purposes. Another biologically important process that occurs during development is apoptosis - programmed cell death or "suicide". Many developmental models are used to elucidate the physiology and molecular basis of this cellular process. Similarly, a deeper understanding of developmental biology can foster greater progress in the treatment of congenital disorders and diseases, e.g. studying human sex determination can lead to treatment for disorders such as congenital adrenal hyperplasia.

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