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.
