Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Pandgt;The field of evolutionary biology arose from the desire to understand the origin and diversity of biological forms. In recent years, however, evolutionary genetics, with its focus on the modification and inheritance of presumed genetic programs, has all but overwhelmed other aspects of evolutionary biology. This has led to the neglect of the study of the generative origins of biological form.Drawing on work from developmental biology, paleontology, developmental and population genetics, cancer research, physics, and theoretical biology, this book explores the multiple factors responsible for the origination of biological form. It examines the essential problems of morphological evolution--why, for example, the basic body plans of nearly all metazoans arose within a relatively short time span, why similar morphological design motifs appear in phylogenetically independent lineages, and how new structural elements are added to the body plan of a given phylogenetic lineage. It also examines discordances between genetic and phenotypic change, the physical determinants of morphogenesis, and the role of epigenetic processes in evolution. The book discusses these and other topics within the framework of evolutionary developmental biology, a new research agenda that concerns the interaction of development and evolution in the generation of biological form. By placing epigenetic processes, rather than gene sequence and gene expression changes, at the center of morphological origination, this book points the way to a more comprehensive theory of evolution.andlt;/Pandgt;
Review
This volume challenges the primacy of both neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory and developmental genetics as complete explanations for the phenomena of evolutionary developmental biology. The contributors take a refreshing variety of approaches to classic problems such as homology, developmental constraints, modules, and roles for environmental factors in development. This is an original and well-argued contribution that is essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution-development synthesis. The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"This volume challenges the primacy of both neo-Darwinian evolutionary theory and developmental genetics as complete explanations for the phenomena of evolutionary developmental biology. The contributors take a refreshing variety of approaches to classic problems such as homology, developmental constraints, modules, and roles for environmental factors in development. This is an original and well-argued contribution that is essential reading for anyone interested in the evolution-development synthesis."--Rudolf A. Raff, Distinguished Professor of Biology, Indiana Universityandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Synopsis
The field of evolutionary biology arose from the desire to understand the origin and diversity of biological forms. In recent years, however, evolutionary genetics, with its focus on the modification and inheritance of presumed genetic programs, has all but overwhelmed other aspects of evolutionary biology. This has led to the neglect of the study of the generative origins of biological form.
Drawing on work from developmental biology, paleontology, developmental and population genetics, cancer research, physics, and theoretical biology, this book explores the multiple factors responsible for the origination of biological form. It examines the essential problems of morphological evolution -- why, for example, the basic body plans of nearly all metazoans arose within a relatively short time span, why similar morphological design motifs appear in phylogenetically independent lineages, and how new structural elements are added to the body plan of a given phylogenetic lineage. It also examines discordances between genetic and phenotypic change, the physical determinants of morphogenesis, and the role of epigenetic processes in evolution. The book discusses these and other topics within the framework of evolutionary developmental biology, a new research agenda that concerns the interaction of development and evolution in the generation of biological form. By placing epigenetic processes, rather than gene sequence and gene expression changes, at the center of morphological origination, this book points the way to a more comprehensive theory of evolution.
Synopsis
A more comprehensive version of evolutionary theory that focuses as much on the origin of biological form as on its diversification.
The field of evolutionary biology arose from the desire to understand the origin and diversity of biological forms. In recent years, however, evolutionary genetics, with its focus on the modification and inheritance of presumed genetic programs, has all but overwhelmed other aspects of evolutionary biology. This has led to the neglect of the study of the generative origins of biological form.
Drawing on work from developmental biology, paleontology, developmental and population genetics, cancer research, physics, and theoretical biology, this book explores the multiple factors responsible for the origination of biological form. It examines the essential problems of morphological evolution -- why, for example, the basic body plans of nearly all metazoans arose within a relatively short time span, why similar morphological design motifs appear in phylogenetically independent lineages, and how new structural elements are added to the body plan of a given phylogenetic lineage. It also examines discordances between genetic and phenotypic change, the physical determinants of morphogenesis, and the role of epigenetic processes in evolution. The book discusses these and other topics within the framework of evolutionary developmental biology, a new research agenda that concerns the interaction of development and evolution in the generation of biological form. By placing epigenetic processes, rather than gene sequence and gene expression changes, at the center of morphological origination, this book points the way to a more comprehensive theory of evolution.
Synopsis
A more comprehensive version of evolutionary theory that focuses as much on the origin of biological form as on its diversification.
Synopsis
The field of evolutionary biology arose from the desire to understand the origin and diversity of biological forms. In recent years, however, evolutionary genetics, with its focus on the modification and inheritance of presumed genetic programs, has all but overwhelmed other aspects of evolutionary biology. This has led to the neglect of the study of the generative origins of biological form.
Synopsis
andlt;Pandgt;A more comprehensive version of evolutionary theory that focuses as much on the origin of biological form as on its diversification.andlt;/Pandgt;
About the Author
Gerd B. Müller is Professor of Theoretical Biology at the University of Vienna and Chairman of the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research. He is a coeditor of Origination of Organismal Form (MIT Press, 2003) and Modeling Biology (MIT Press, 2007).Stuart A. Newman is Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College.
Table of Contents
Introduction.Origination of organismal form : the forgotten cause in evolutionary theory /Gerd B. Muller, Stuart A. Newman --Problems of morphological evolution.Cambrian "explosion" of metazoans /Simon Conway Morris --Convergence and homoplasy in the evolution of organismal form /Pat Willmer --Homology : the evolution of morphological organization /Gerd B. Muller --Relationships between genes and form.Only details determine /Roy J. Britten --Reactive genome /Scott F. Gilbert --Tissue specificity : structural cues allow diverse phenotypes from a constant genotype /Mina J. Bissell, I. Saira Mian, Derek Radisky, and Eva Turley --Genes, cell behavior, and the evolution of form /Ellen Larsen --Physical determinants of morphogenesis.Cell adhesive interactions and tissue self-organization /Malcolm Steinberg --Gradients, diffusion, and genes in pattern formation /H. Frederik Nijhout --Biochemical oscillator linked to vertebrate segmentation /Olivier Pourquie --Organization through intra-inter dynamics /Kunihiko Kaneko --From physics to development : the evolution of morphogenetic mechanisms /Stuart A. Newman --Origination and evolvability.Phenotypic plasticity and evolution by genetic assimilation /Vidyanand Nanjundiah --Genetic and epigenetic factors in the origin of the tetrapod limb /Gunter P. Wagner, Chi-hua Chiu --Epigenesis and evolution of brains : from embryonic divisions to functional systems /Georg F. Striedter --Boundary constraints for the emergence of form /Diego Rasskin-Gutman.