SAC Research

Quite correctly the gut is regarded as an internal organ.  However, being  a tube open at both ends the intestinal lumen may be regarded also as having continuity with the outside world and therefore an important interface exposed to many challenges.

It thus parallels the skin and the respiratory tract in this respect and shares the capacity of these tissues to adapt rapidly and effectively to stress, environmental change, disease challenge and nutrition. Like the respiratory tract the gut is a supply organ (as opposed to demand) and its functional adaptations reflect this role. The seminar will describe the basic structure and function of the avian gut and use several examples of mechanistic studies that reveal the "amazing adaptability" of this complex but elegant barrier between the environment and other physiological systems.