From Egg to Embryo: Regional Specification in Early Development

by J. M. W. Slack

Overview

The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in our understanding of early animal development. The revised edition of this excellent book describes the results of this revolution and explains in detail how the body plan of an embryo emerges from a newly fertilized egg. The book starts with a critical discussion of embryological concepts, and with simple mathematics describes cell states, morphogen gradients, and threshold responses. The experimental evidence of the mechanisms of regional specification in vertebrates, insects, and selected invertebrates, namely frogs (Xenopus), mice, chicks, fruitflies (Drosophila), mollusks, ringed worms, sea squirts, and nematode worms (Caenorhabditis), is then discussed. The progress with Drosophila has been particularly impressive, and there is an entire chapter devoted to it that provides a clear guide to the subject and includes a new table of developmentally important genes. Throughout, the emphasis is on conceptual clarity and unity, and the book brings together mathematical models, embryological experiments, and molecular biology in a single comprehensible and coherent account.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521409438
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	05/30/1991
Series:	Developmental and Cell Biology Series , #26
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.71(d)

Table of Contents

Preface to the second edition; Preface to the first edition; 1. Regional specification in animal development; 2. The concepts of experimental embryology; 3. Theoretical embryology; 4. Hierarchies of developmental decisions; 5. Development with a small cell number; 6. Models for man: the mouse and the chick; 7. The breakthrough; 8. What does it all mean?; Appendix: How to write a program for development; References; Index.

Editorial Reviews

"One of the best and clearest explications of the bewildering terminology of embryology that I have ever come across...It would be difficult to find another book where the central facts of early embryonic development are set forth so clearly and economically...Slack establishes himself as an excellent expositor and critic of biomathematical theory." Cell

"The tone of the discussion is non-partisan as between competing theories, but thoughtful and often provocative. Many questions are posed for the reader to ponder, where other authors might peddle their own pet speculations...it is entertainingly written; it gives a clear and refreshing perspective on a major problem; and, above all, it stimulates thought." Nature

"...a singular and critical exploration of a central development problem, uncluttered by superfluous detail and, apart from the occasional bias, rigorous in evaluation of the evidence. The unpatronizing, bossy style draws the reader into the problem and it is one of those unusual science books that one can actually read rather han refer to." Rosa Beddington, Trends in Genetics

From the Publisher