Editorial: Phenotyping mouse embryos

The mouse shares many morphological and genetic similarities with humans, making a valuable 14 experimental model for studying human disease. Molecular tools to modify the mouse genome have 15 been developed and refined over decades and with the advent of the CRISPR-Cas9 and similar 16 technologies, targeted manipulations have become standard. In parallel, a wide spectrum of 17 sophisticated morphological and functional imaging methods emerged recently, that allow precise 18 two-dimensional (2D), three-dimensional (3D) and even four-dimensional (4D) visualisation of 19 organs and tissues, often combined with the molecular and structural environments of cells and the 20 intercellular space. reader to an innovative and largely unknown whole mouse embryo culture approach, which enables 62 experimentation with mammalian embryos. 63We like to express our gratefulness to all the imaging specialists who contributed to this Research 64 Topic and hope that the embryo phenotyping community will profit from this collection of highly 65 interesting articles. 66