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Over the past few decades numerous scientists have called for a unification of the fields of embryo development, genetics, and evolution. Each field has glaring holes in its ability to explain the fundamental phenomena of life. In this book, the author shows how the phenomenon of cell differentiation, considered in its temporal and spatial aspects during embryogenesis, provides a starting point for a unified theory of multicellular organisms (plants, fungi and animals), including their evolution and genetics. This unification is based on the recent discovery of differentiation waves by the author and his colleagues, described in the appendices, and illustrated by a flip movie prepared by a medical artist. To help the reader through the many fields covered, a glossary is included.This book will be of great value to the researcher and practicing doctors/scientists alike. The research students will receive an in-depth tutorial on the topics covered. The seasoned researcher will appreciate the applications and the gold mine of other possibilities for novel research topics.
Summary of recent research covering experimental methods and numerical modelling, for graduate students and researchers.
Among the most important innovations in the history of life is the transition from single-celled organisms to more complex, multicellular organisms. Multicellularity has evolved repeatedly across the tree of life, resulting in the evolution of new kinds of organisms that collectively constitute a significant portion of Earth’s biodiversity and have transformed the biosphere. This volume examines the origins and subsequent evolution of multicellularity, reviewing the types of multicellular groups that exist, their evolutionary relationships, the processes that led to their evolution, and the conceptual frameworks in which their evolution is understood. This important volume is intended to serve as a jumping-off point, stimulating further research by summarizing the topics that students and researchers of the evolution of multicellularity should be familiar with, and highlighting future research directions for the field.
This book reviews Volvox development and biology and, through this study, sheds light on the origins of multicellularity.
In recent years a new field of study has arisen called developmental biology. The term developmental biology is really a new name for embryology; it is, however, used to denote the molecular approach to the study of developing systems. In this book we have tried wherever possible to blend the older information of classical embryology and in particular organogeny with the newer concepts of developmental biology. The original intention was to cover all the tissues of the body in this book. However, it soon became obvious that it was not possible to do this within one volume. Therefore we decided to have two general chapters, one on the basic concepts of cellular development and an other on the ageing of cells (this being considered part of the normal growth process). In addition to these two general chapters we have included chapters on some of the major tissues. These were chosen not just to illustrate the points made in the general chapters but because there is enough information available on the development of these tissues for the expert in that field to present a good, readable account. It is hoped that at a later date when more information is available, we will be able to extend this work, probably as several volumes, and to include the other tissues of the body which are not dealt with in this volume.
The Evolution of Differentiation attempts to sketch the outlines of a framework from what is now known or suspected of the various aspects of differentiation in all types of organisms. This book surveys the many aspects of differentiation that are seen today, and in particular, because of the evident universality of expression of the genetic code, to enquire whether any similar universality exists in the methods of gene repression and activation. The information reviewed ranges from the chemical control of the genetic mechanisms of unicellular organisms during their various phases of activity, to the chemical control of differentiation in multicellular organisms both during embryonic development and in the adult state. Finally, some consideration is also given to that collapse of differentiation which leads to cancer.
The first comprehensive treatment of probabilistic Boolean networks, unifying different strands of current research and addressing emerging issues.
The evolution of animal diversity is strongly affected by the origin of novel cell and tissue types and their interactions with each other. Understanding the evolution of cell types will shed light on the evolution of novel structures, and in turn highlight how animals diversified. Several cell types may also have been lost as animals simplified – for example did sponges have nerves and lose them? This book reveals the interplay between gains and losses and provides readers with a better grasp of the evolutionary history of cell types. In addition, the book illustrates how new cell types allow a better understanding permitting the discrimination between convergence and homology.
Evolutionary developmental biology or evo-devo is a field of biological research that compares the underlying mechanisms of developmental processes in different organisms to infer the ancestral condition of these processes and elucidate how they have evolved. It addresses questions about the developmental bases of evolutionary changes and evolution of developmental processes. The book’s content is divided into three parts, the first of which discusses the theoretical background of evo-devo. The second part highlights new and emerging model organisms in the evo-devo field, while the third and last part explores the evo-devo approach in a broad comparative context. To the best of our knowledge, no other book combines these three evo-devo aspects: theoretical considerations, a comprehensive list of emerging model species, and comparative analyses of developmental processes. Given its scope, the book will offer readers a new perspective on the natural diversity of processes at work in cells and during the development of various animal groups, and expand the horizons of seasoned and young researchers alike.
One of the oldest problems in developmental biology is the differentiation between germ line and somatic cells. The continuity of germ line cells between subsequent generations of multicellular organisms was first suggested by Owen, and later elaborated by A. Weismann to his famous germ line theory. His additional assumption that cellular differentiation was based on a differential representation of the genetic material in somatic cells was soon disproved. In some, apparently exceptional, cases, however, such differences in the genetic material between germ line and somatic cells were discovered. The best-known example is the nematod Ascaris. Boveri discovered and studied the fundamental differences in the karyotypes of germ line and soma of Parascaris equorum. Later, similar situations were found in some other organisms. However, in particular the work ofSpemann demonstrated that cellular differentiation in general is not accompanied by fundamental changes of the genetic material. Subsequently, the relatively few examples of germ line-soma differences achieved by chromatin elimination processes have been considered as a curiosity. Experimental studies have been essentially restricted to Ascaris species and to the pioneering cytological studies of chromatin elimination by S. Beermann. Despite the large proportions of the genome involved in chromatin elimina tion, our knowledge of this process is still very restricted. In particular the biological meaning of this differentiation process is entirely obscure. In this context one must, however, consider that also for the majority of DNA sequences in eukaryotic genomes the biological relevance is unclear.