Buch, Englisch, 242 Seiten, Format (B × H): 162 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 473 g
ISBN: 978-0-691-13568-7
Verlag: Princeton University Press
What comes first, form or function? Trumpeted as the future of biological science, evolutionary developmental biology (or "evo-devo") answers this fundamental question by showing how evolution controls the development of organisms. In Forms of Becoming, Alessandro Minelli, a leading international figure in the field, takes an in-depth and comprehensive look at the history and key issues of evo-devo. Spirited and insightful, this book focuses on the innovative ways animal organisms evolve through competition and cooperation. Minelli provides a complete overview of conceptual developments--from the fierce nineteenth-century debates between the French biologists Geoffroy and Cuvier, who fought over questions of form versus function--to modern theories of how genes dictate body formation. The book's wide-ranging topics include expression patterns of genes, developmental bias, the role of developmental genes, and genetic determinism. Drawing from diverse examples, such as the anatomy of butterflies, giraffes, Siamese twins, and corals, Minelli extends and reformulates important concepts from development, evolution, and the interplay between the two. Presenting the accessible and cutting-edge ideas of evolutionary developmental biology, Forms of Becoming is fascinating reading for anyone interested in genetics and the animal form.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
Preface ix
Part One: Forms and Numbers
Chapter 1: Unity in Diversity 3
Two Skeletons 3
Clashes at the Mus?um 5
Squid and Vertebrate 7
Topsy-turvy 9
Chapter 2: Archetypes 11
The Primeval Plant 11
A Skeleton for Everyone 14
An Exemplary Crayfi sh 16
Chapter 3: Easy Numbers, Forbidden Numbers 18
The Scolopendra's Legs 18
The Nonexistent Variant 22
The Leech's Segments 23
Unexpected Arithmetic 24
The Giraffe's Neck 28
Indirect Effects 29
On the Fingers of One Hand 32
Number and Position 35
Chapter 4: Privileged Genes 38
Unity of Body Plan 38
The Universal Appendage 42
The Zootype 45
Position and Structure 48
"Master Control Genes" 50
Networks 53
Part Two: Constructing Form
Chapter 5: Evolution and Development 59
Genes and Determinism 59
Possible Butterfl ies, Real Butterflies 63
Evo-devo 65
Chapter 6: The Logic of Development 68
From Mechanics to Molecules 68
The Lawfulness of "Monsters" 70
A Worm Enters the Scene 72
A Mosaic, or Perhaps Not 75
One Model, Several Models 76
The Adult's Questionable Uniqueness 77
Boxed Generations 78
According to Program 80
Cuticle, Cuticles 81
Cilia and Mitosis 86
Taking Development Seriously 89
Ontogeny and Phylogeny 90
Chapter 7: Paradigm Shifts 94
Science and Language 94
Gene, Genes 95
Busillis 97
Tissues 99
More on Segments 101
Origin, Form, and Function 103
Parallel Worksites 105
What Do We Start From? 107
Which Adult? 109
Siamese Twins and Corals 111
Spare Parts 113
Chapter 8: Comparisons 117
Horns and Antlers 117
Homology 119
One Gene, Several Effects 121
Ars Combinatoria 123
The Limits of Hierarchies 125
Organs, Only When All Is Done 127
Structures, Processes, and Developmental Stages 129
Chapter 9: The Body's Syntax 132
From Tip to Toe 132
The Dual Animal 134
The Sea Urchin 136
The Tapeworm 137
Part Three: Origins
Chapter 10: Competition or Cooperation? 145
Apologues and Metaphors 145
The Species: From Inside and from Outside 146
Butterfl ies and Sea Urchins 148
Parasitoids 150
Throw-Away Larvae 150
Competition between Equals, or Not Quite 154
Germ and Soma 158
Authorized Competition among Equals 161
A Virtual Mouth 163
Embryonic Leafl ets 165
Who Is Winning? 167
One Egg, Several Embryos 169
Two Twins, or Rather One 170
Identical Twins, or Maybe Not 171
The Pupa's Balance Sheet 175
Competition and Cooperation: Two Sides of the Same Coin 177
Everything Small 178
Development in Stages 180
Chapter 11: Making and Remaking 183
Many and All Equal, or Few and Different 183
A Product of Factors 186
Calculations without Error 189
Broken Chains 194
Co-option 196
Buds and Appendages 197
Chapter 12: Innovations without Plans 201
Regularity without a Program 201
Inexpensive Symmetry 201
Breaks in Symmetry 204
The Origin of Evolutionary Novelties 205
Modules 208
A Glance at the Clock 209
Epilogue 211
Recommended Readings 215
Index 221
