Fate maps and cell lineage analysis

Abstract Knowledge about the fates of cells during development is of fundamental importance to our understanding of developmental mechanisms (1). In organisms like the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, cell number is sufficiently reduced and the embryo is small and transparent enough to make lineage analysis by direct observation of cell divisions relatively straightforward. However, in systems where cell number is greater, special techniques have to be introduced to follow cell fates.