Histology serves as a foundation for understanding the structural and functional relationships within biological systems. It unveils the hidden world that is beyond the scope of our eyes. Every tiny little structure serves a purpose, and no matter how small, they all work together to keep us alive. The world of veterinary histology gives us a window into the remarkable diversity and adaptations of animal life. Under the scope you’ll actually find a surprising number of similarities in the tissue organization, cellular morphology, and physiological adaptations. From the smallest members of the animal kingdom, to the largest, we really aren’t all that different under the lens.
Often times I find myself looking at slides from wildlife species, such as birds or reptiles, and being astounded that I can still identify tissue types. Despite all of my training being in reference to human histology, I still find it fairly easy to decipher the slides that I’m seeing. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter how different we are, or how far the evolutionary tree stretches.. our organs and structures still follow the same general guidelines. We’re all basically a bunch of tubes. Tubes to consume food, tubes to remove waste, tubes for circulation, tubes to exchange gasses… you get the picture.
I’ve included two slide images as an example. We have a pig kidney and a stingray kidney. Both very different animals… yet they display a similar glomerular structure, as well as the tubules around the glomeruli. For animals that are quite opposite from one another, their kidney structures are strikingly similar. This is a theme that I see throughout my work within the lab.
The kidneys' primary function is to eliminate waste, a necessity for all animals. Once an effective method for this evolved, it was passed down through the evolutionary tree, eventually reaching humans. This shared biological blueprint deepens my appreciation for veterinary medicine. Every day, I see a bit of ourselves in the slides of other animals. At the end of the day, at the microscopic level, we’re not all that different from one another.
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