We take advantage of the conservation of developmental control of embryogenesis among organisms, to study the function of genes involved in congenital defects in humans by doing experiments with the frog Xenopus laevis. We take advantage of the relative ease of introduction of biomolecules like antisense oligonucleotides to reduce mRNA levels, or mRNA itself to make altered or increased levels of specific protein in live embryos. We then look for morphological and molecular changes that result. One of the techniques we use is whole mount immunohistochemistry coupled to confocal microscopy. Xenopus embryos develop rapidly and are small enough to use for confocal microscopic analysis that allows both the exterior and the interior of developing organ system to be viewed. Our most current studies look at how amyloids are used as part of normal development. The extracellular formation of amyloid particles is part of the pathogenesis that accompanies devastating diseases like Alzheimer's and Huntington's disease.