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This book covers the wide area of developmental physiology of the intestine: changes in the structure and function of the gut during perinatal period and weaning in mammals, role of nutrients (in particular colostrum and milk), neuroendocrine function of the intestine, intestinal motility, secretion and absorption and their neurohormonal regulation, novel knowledge on gut metabolism, and the structural and functional expression of circadian variability in the gut. It also contains unique information on the luminal action of gut regulatory peptides, and the role of the electric current generated by intestinal smooth muscle on gastrointestinal microbial growth. ... Read more

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The nature/nurture debate is not dead. Dichotomous views of development still underlie many fundamental debates in the biological and social sciences. Developmental systems theory (DST) offers a new conceptual framework with which to resolve such debates. DST views ontogeny as contingent cycles of interaction among a varied set of developmental resources, no one of which controls the process. These factors include DNA, cellular and organismic structure, and social and ecological interactions. DST has excited interest from a wide range of researchers, from molecular biologists to anthropologists, because of its ability to integrate evolutionary theory and other disciplines without falling into traditional oppositions.The book provides historical background to DST, recent theoretical findings on the mechanisms of heredity, applications of the DST framework to behavioral development, implications of DST for the philosophy of biology, and critical reactions to DST. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mind blowing
I am a MolBio PhD candidate at Princeton University.This is my first official introduction to evolution and developmental systems theory.I am only half way through the book, but I feel like the selections provide a good mixture of opinions and can prompt heated discussions!Highly recommend this book for a new way of thinking about molecular biology and scientific method! ... Read more

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Research into the causes of aging, and strategies to delay that process, have gained much ground and attention in recent years. This volume covers the major threads in the molecular genetics of aging, including genes that regulate aging, causes of aging, evolutionary theories of aging, and the relationship between diet and aging. Among specific topics covered are calorie restriction, mitochondria, sirtuins, telomeres, stem cells, and cancer. Each chapter is written by one or more leaders in the field, and the book presents the current status of this exciting research area and provides an invaluable source of information in a single volume. Related Titles from the Publisher Ageless Quest: One Scientist's Search for the Genes That Prolong Youth Clocks and Rhythms: Cold Spring Harbor Symposia on Quantitative Biology, LXXll ... Read more

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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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Embryology for those not just interested in humans,
I first read this book as a graduate student in a developmental biologyprogram.It is well-written, engaging and deep.It is not geared towardsmedical students but towards those interested in what processes are used bya broad spectrum of animals to develop from a one-celled egg to complicatedlife-forms.Now that I am no longer in the field I find myself wanting toread it again and wishing there was an up-dated version, given all theadvances in our understanding of the cellular and genetic processes thatunderly development of the last decade. ... Read more

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Developing organisms are systems in which the geometry, dynamics, and boundary conditions are all changing in the course of morphogenesis. The morphogenesis of cells and organisms appear to be mediated in part by the mechanically active components of the cytoskeleton. Mechanical forces have long been considered secondary to the effects of molecular mechanisms in cell growth, differentiation, and development. This volume explores the role of mechanical forces in cell growth and development and demonstrates its importance. This volume will prove invaluable to all biologists interested in the fundamentals of mechanical forces in development, from the advanced to the graduate researcher. ... Read more

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This is the first in a two-volume, comprehensive treatment of the methodologies used in researching the zebrafish, an emerging vertebrate model system. The text includes discussions on development, genetic methodologies, and model applications.

Key Features
* Details state-of-the-art zebrafish protocols in a single-source reference
* Presents methods and reagents in user-friendly format
* Delineates critical steps and pitfalls of he procedures
* Illustrates techniques with full-color plates
Summarizes many new and interesting developmental mutants
* Includes appendices with strain information and a compendium of zebrafish World Wide Web sites
* Relevant to clinicians interested in vertebrate models of human congenital diseases ... Read more

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This book represents an effort to understand very old questions about biological form, function, and the relationships between them. The essays collected here reflect the diversity of approaches in evolutionary developmental biology (Evo Devo), including not only studies by prominent scientists whose research focuses on topics concerned with evolution and development, but also historically and conceptually oriented studies that place the scientific work within a larger framework and ask how it can be pushed further. Topics under discussion range from the use of theoretical and empirical biomechanics to understand the evolution of plant form, to detailed studies of the evolution of development and the role of developmental constraints on phenotypic variation. The result is a rich and interdisciplinary volume that will begin a wider conversation about the shape of Evo Devo as it matures as a field. ... Read more

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A collection of standard and cutting-edge techniques for using Xenopus oocytes and oocytes/egg extracts to reconstitute biological and cellular processes. These readily reproducible methods take advantage of the oocyte's impressive protein abundance, its striking protein translation capacity, and its breathtaking possibilities for the assembly of infectious viral particles by single cell injection of multiple RNAs. The authors focus on the versatility of frog oocytes and egg extracts in cell biology and signal transduction, and cover all the major uses of oocytes/extracts as experimental models. ... Read more

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In this volume of ASPA, devoted to developmental biology research, 9 authors from different fields of developmental biology present their investigations on various developing plant and animal models. An a priori concern in mind that weightlessness might have negative effects on developmental processes, it is encouraging to know that the overall development of various organisms tested so far is essentially correct under spaceflight conditions, leading to viable individuals with viable offspring. On the other hand, particular studies on specifically neurophysiological aspects in developing organisms reveal important flight or postflight disturbances; however it is encouraging to know that they appear to be transient only.

The book contains ten chapters, giving details on how, in technical terms, experiments for spaceflights are prepared, performed and analysed and on how, in scientific terms, the available results have to be interpreted. One contribution is devoted to plant systems, five consider the overall aspects of embryonic development in invertebrates and vertebrates, two focus on neurophysiological aspects and one reports on the "mother-offspring system" in weightlessness in a mammalian model, the last chapter presents new ESA facilities and instruments to be integrated into the European research Laboratory "Columbus" of the ISS. ... Read more

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This book considers in detail the mechanisms of a major human problem. Chromosome imbalance affects all stages of life in ways ranging from spontaneous abortion and retardation to behavioural problems and malignancy. In The Consequences of Chromosome Imbalance: Principles, Mechanisms, and Models, Charles J. Epstein concerns himself with how and why a particular chromosome imbalance produces a specific phenotype. His fundamental goal is to connect chromosome aberrations with functional abnormalities in terms of gene expression, developmental and cell biology, and metabolism. Through his examination of this relationship, we learn more about normal development and function. The book begins with an exploration of several human autosomal aneuploid phenotypes, with particular emphasis on the relationship between genotype and phenotype. In the next part, broad theoretical considerations of the mechanisms which generate these phenotypes are examined with reference to studies on man and other organisms such as bacteria and mice. Experimental approaches to study the effects of aneuploidy are presented next with special attention paid to the development of model systems for studying human aneuploidy. ... Read more

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The new field of evolutionary developmental biology is one of the most exciting areas of contemporary biology. The fundamental principle of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") is that evolution acts through inherited changes in the development of the organism. "Evo-devo" is not merely a fusion of the fields of developmental and evolutionary biology, the grafting of a developmental perspective onto evolutionary biology, or the incorporation of an evolutionary perspective into developmental biology. Evo-devo strives for a unification of genomic, developmental, organismal, population, and natural selection approaches to evolutionary change. It draws from development, evolution, paleontology, ecology, and molecular and systematic biology, but has its own set of questions, approaches, and methods.

Keywords and Concepts in Evolutionary Developmental Biology is the first comprehensive reference work for this expanding field. Covering more than fifty central terms and concepts in entries written by leading experts, Keywords offers an overview of all that is embraced by this new subdiscipline of biology, providing the core insights and ideas that show how embryonic development relates to life-history evolution, adaptation, and responses to and integration with environmental factors.

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Extracellular matrix proteins are serious, common human diseases that are caused by mutations in genes that encode these proteins.This has spurred a great number of researchers to study the extracellular matrix, sometimes by choice and sometimes by necessity. Much progress has been made in the last decade towards understanding what matrix proteins do and how cells interact with and respond to them. Volume 15 is a compilation of reviews by experts in their respective fields. The chapters in this book address the biology of a broad spectrum of extracellular matrix molecules and their functions in development and disease.

This book has been designed to focus on a diverse subset of matrix proteins that have been shown to be important for development, function, and disease.The book therefore both presents a broad view of the field and provides crucial details about some of the best-studied matrix molecules.

* Written by leaders in the field
* Discusses the potential of matrix components to be used as therapeutic tools for the treatment and prevention of cancer
* Offers a section on integrin signaling and the development of the central nervous system, detailing the migration of neurons and the glia
* Covers a diverse array of molecules such as laminins, collagens, heparan sulfate proteoglycans, integrins, and more ... Read more

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In the compiling of this book, the vast literature dealing with the descriptive morphology, histology and cytology of teleost development has been combed and integrated. The book is divided into 21 chapters, starting with the egg and embryonic development up to hatching. This is followed by a description of ectodermal, mesodermal and entodermal derivatives and the development of various organs. The subject index, species index and the abundant illustrations add extra value to this long awaited book.

... Read more

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Never Highlight a Book Again! Cram101 Textbook Outlines give the student all of the highlights, notes, and practice-tests for their textbook. Only Cram101 is Textbook Specific, not generic. ... Read more

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The author brings his background in computer programming to bear on the problem of pattern formation models, offering a guide which lists over 1000 references in the research literature. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Superb scholarship!
An unbelievably thorough, yet concise distillate of the whole of classical biological patterning theory.The bibliography alone is priceless.

Every developmental biologist should have this book.
Dr. Held has done a fantastic job distilling pattern formation processes to a collection of model classes.The bibliography alone is priceless - an superb piece of scholarship. Thank you, Dr. Held.

Just plain Interesting.
I used this book, authored by my professor, while taking developmental biology in my final semester of a Cell & Molecular Biology degree plan.The book reflects my professor's very interesting approach to learning development: skeptical examination (in the iconoclastic tradition) of the principles underlying various models, which is more important than traditional undergraduate memorization of -say -mammalian embryonic fate maps (bo-ring!).His work is the first to hold developmental mechanisms up to the light together for a discriminating view.Don't forget your mental climbing boots when you read this- there's not an ounce of fluff. ... Read more

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Mathematical and computational biology is playing an increasingly important role in the biological sciences. This science brings forward unique challenges, many of which are, at the moment, beyond the theoretical techniques available. Developmental biology, due to its complexity, has lagged somewhat behind its sister disciplines (such as molecular biology and population biology) in making use of quantitative modeling to further biological understanding. This volume comprises work that is among the best developmental modeling available and we feel it will do much to remedy this situation.
This book is aimed at all those with an interest in the interdisciplinary field of computer and mathematical modeling of multi-cellular and developmental systems. It is also a goal of the Editors to attract more developmental biologists to consider integrating modeling components into their research. Most importantly, this book is intended to serve as a portal into this research area for younger scientists - especially graduate students and post-docs, from both biological and quantitative backgrounds.

* Articles written by leading exponents in the field
* Provides techniques to address multiscale modelling
* Coverage includes a wide spectrum of modeling approaches
* Includes descriptions of the most recent advances in the field ... Read more

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This volume presents an overview of the genetic controls and signalling mechanisms governing cell growth and cell-cell interactions in early development. Topics include cellular and genetic control of early developmental and growth processes in organisms, ranging from Drosophila, C elegans, Xenopau and higher plants to higher vertebrates. Pattern formation, cell migration and the relationship of cell architecture to the regulation of gene expression are included. ... Read more