Forms of becoming : the evolutionary biology of development / Alessandro Minelli ; translated by Mark Epstein.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Minelli, Alessandro, author.

Contributor:

Epstein, Mark William, translator.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolutionary developmental biology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (246 pages)

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2009]

Summary:

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.

Contents:

Cover Page

Half-title Page

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Preface

Part One: Forms and Numbers

Chapter 1. Unity in Diversity

Two Skeletons

Clashes at the Muséum

Squid and Vertebrate

Topsy-turvy

Chapter 2. Archetypes

The Primeval Plant

A Skeleton for Everyone

An Exemplary Crayfi sh

Chapter 3. Easy Numbers, Forbidden Numbers

The Scolopendra's Legs

The Nonexistent Variant

The Leech's Segments

Unexpected Arithmetic

The Giraffe's Neck

Indirect Effects

On the Fingers of One Hand

Number and Position

Chapter 4. Privileged Genes

Unity of Body Plan

The Universal Appendage

The Zootype

Position and Structure

"Master Control Genes"

Networks

Part Two: Constructing Form

Chapter 5. Evolution and Development

Genes and Determinism

Possible Butterfl ies, Real Butterfl ies

Evo-devo

Chapter 6. The Logic of Development

From Mechanics to Molecules

The Lawfulness of "Monsters"

A Worm Enters the Scene

A Mosaic, or Perhaps Not

One Model, Several Models

The Adult's Questionable Uniqueness

Boxed Generations

According to Program

Cuticle, Cuticles

Cilia and Mitosis

Taking Development Seriously

Ontogeny and Phylogeny

Chapter 7. Paradigm Shifts

Science and Language

Gene, Genes

Busillis

Tissues

More on Segments

Origin, Form, and Function

Parallel Worksites

What Do We Start From?

Which Adult?

Siamese Twins and Corals

Spare Parts

Chapter 8. Comparisons

Horns and Antlers

Homology

One Gene, Several Effects

Ars Combinatoria

The Limits of Hierarchies

Organs, Only When All Is Done

Structures, Processes, and Developmental Stages

Chapter 9. The Body's Syntax

From Tip to Toe

The Dual Animal

The Sea Urchin

The Tapeworm

Part Three: Origins.

Chapter 10. Competition or Cooperation?

Apologues and Metaphors

The Species: From Inside and from Outside

Butterfl ies and Sea Urchins

Parasitoids

Throw-Away Larvae

Competition between Equals, or Not Quite

Germ and Soma

Authorized Competition among Equals

A Virtual Mouth

Embryonic Leaflets

Who Is Winning?

One Egg, Several Embryos

Two Twins, or Rather One

Identical Twins, or Maybe Not

The Pupa's Balance Sheet

Competition and Cooperation: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Everything Small

Development in Stages

Chapter 11. Making and Remaking

Many and All Equal, or Few and Different

A Product of Factors

Calculations without Error

Broken Chains

Co-option

Buds and Appendages

Chapter 12. Innovations without Plans

Regularity without a Program

Inexpensive Symmetry

Breaks in Symmetry

The Origin of Evolutionary Novelties

Modules

A Glance at the Clock

Epilogue

Recommended Readings

Index.

Notes:

Translated from the Italian.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [215]-220) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781400833054

1400833051

OCLC:

1299388006