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Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development
Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, winner of The Nobel Prize in Medicine, gives a concise and illustrative overview of genetics, evolution, and cellular processes as well as a discussing of current ethical issues in human biology. Coming to Life is a remarkable journey through developmental biology that reveals miraculous processes in the microscopic world of cells. Through an accounting of groundbreaking discoveries, Christiane Nusslein-Volhard tells us many answers to historical and contemporary questions in science. For example, she brings us the newest knowledge about embryonic forms, explains the genetic mechanisms that influence adult development of all animals, and shares insights into the ethical standards society moist uphold in the face of new scientific discoveries.
As the author leads us from laboratory research to its applications in human beings, we also come to understand why children look like their parents, how an embryonic cell knows to become an eye rather than an eyelash, and other incredible influences hat result in variety in life. Complete with her own hand-drawn illustrations, Coming to Life gives a rare opportunity to understand a Nobel Prize-winner's passion for science in concise, understandable language. 55 b/w illustrations.
As the author leads us from laboratory research to its applications in human beings, we also come to understand why children look like their parents, how an embryonic cell knows to become an eye rather than an eyelash, and other incredible influences hat result in variety in life. Complete with her own hand-drawn illustrations, Coming to Life gives a rare opportunity to understand a Nobel Prize-winner's passion for science in concise, understandable language. 55 b/w illustrations.
180 pages, Hardcover
First published April 17, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 9, 2022
very well written, easy to follow intro to a complex topic.
September 3, 2010
I agree with the earlier (brief) review. I'm not sure what her target audience was. The information presented is either too brief and easily misunderstood, or is too detailed and technical for the average layperson to easily grasp.
The initial sections, as well as later sections, on evolution were laughable. The first section is barely competent in describing the basic premises of evolution. The latter section attempts a "history of life" approach, but again is simplistic and leaves out far too much information to serve much of a purpose. It feels as if Nusslein-Volhard is stepping out of her comfort zone a bit. A particular example of this is on page 131 where the caption under the diagram states that "the oldest common ancestor of humans and primates lived about seven million years ago". There are several problems with this. First, her diagram depicts only members of the Hominidae family, not primates as a whole. The common ancestor of humans and primates as a whole lived at least 65 million years ago. The other problem is the use of the term "oldest common ancestor". Technically, the oldest common ancestor of humans and primates is the originator of all life on Earth, and lived 3.6 GA or so! The correct term to use would actually be the exact opposite. A correct caption would read something like "The most recent common ancestor of humans and great apes lived about seven million years ago". This may seem like nitpicking, but I expect more from a Nobel Laureate.
The portions of the book dealing with developmental processes are good, but she doesn't seem to know who she wants to write for. The information is assuredly old hat for professional biologists, and they will likely not gain anything from it. However, the information seems as though it would also be slightly too technical for the interested layman to follow easily. She obviously has no problem with using correct technical terminology, but the problem is that there is never a clear, lucid explanation of what most of the terminology actually means or describes. In addition, the explanations of development seem more like a laundry list of what takes place, rather than an explanation. Unless the reader already has at least some sort of prior knowledge of the basics of evo-devo and embryology, it will most likely be hard to follow, or at least to visualize the processes she is describing.
On the plus side, the diagrams are very nice. They do help a somewhat in giving a visual reference to the text, but they still could be clearer about the exact movements of tissues, or how cell layers invaginate during gastrulation.
Overall, if you want to learn about evo-devo I'd go for another book. If you just want the basics, pick up Sean B. Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful. It's longer, more detailed, has more diagrams, and is just plain better written. If you want to learn about the detailed processes, get a textbook, perhaps either Carroll's From DNA to Diversity, or Scott Gilbert's Developmental Biology.
The initial sections, as well as later sections, on evolution were laughable. The first section is barely competent in describing the basic premises of evolution. The latter section attempts a "history of life" approach, but again is simplistic and leaves out far too much information to serve much of a purpose. It feels as if Nusslein-Volhard is stepping out of her comfort zone a bit. A particular example of this is on page 131 where the caption under the diagram states that "the oldest common ancestor of humans and primates lived about seven million years ago". There are several problems with this. First, her diagram depicts only members of the Hominidae family, not primates as a whole. The common ancestor of humans and primates as a whole lived at least 65 million years ago. The other problem is the use of the term "oldest common ancestor". Technically, the oldest common ancestor of humans and primates is the originator of all life on Earth, and lived 3.6 GA or so! The correct term to use would actually be the exact opposite. A correct caption would read something like "The most recent common ancestor of humans and great apes lived about seven million years ago". This may seem like nitpicking, but I expect more from a Nobel Laureate.
The portions of the book dealing with developmental processes are good, but she doesn't seem to know who she wants to write for. The information is assuredly old hat for professional biologists, and they will likely not gain anything from it. However, the information seems as though it would also be slightly too technical for the interested layman to follow easily. She obviously has no problem with using correct technical terminology, but the problem is that there is never a clear, lucid explanation of what most of the terminology actually means or describes. In addition, the explanations of development seem more like a laundry list of what takes place, rather than an explanation. Unless the reader already has at least some sort of prior knowledge of the basics of evo-devo and embryology, it will most likely be hard to follow, or at least to visualize the processes she is describing.
On the plus side, the diagrams are very nice. They do help a somewhat in giving a visual reference to the text, but they still could be clearer about the exact movements of tissues, or how cell layers invaginate during gastrulation.
Overall, if you want to learn about evo-devo I'd go for another book. If you just want the basics, pick up Sean B. Carroll's Endless Forms Most Beautiful. It's longer, more detailed, has more diagrams, and is just plain better written. If you want to learn about the detailed processes, get a textbook, perhaps either Carroll's From DNA to Diversity, or Scott Gilbert's Developmental Biology.
July 14, 2014
This book presents the reader with a good general overview of developmental biology, or as it previously called: embryology, without getting into the nuts and bolts of molecular biology and genetics. Still, the reader must have a basic background in biology in order to be able to get anywhere with this book, but then thats whom this book is targeted for. The author did a great job on clarifying the fundamental concept of how an organism develops from a single cell, although she did this by concentrating mostly on the fruit fly Drosophila, while only slightly covering up vertebrates (there is one chapter titled: vertebrates and another one: humans) which is quite understandable, giving how complex body patterning is in vertebrates. Another great feature of this book is its two colour illustrations. They are made with colouring pencils which is something i like, but most importantly they make a great job on explaining some of the concepts presented in the text. Whether you are looking for an introduction on developmental biology, or you are simply looking for an answer for how organisms make themselves from a single cell, this book is great, i do recommend it.
September 8, 2011
A good book if you don't know much about developmental biology. The author tries to explain a difficult topic with simple language, but it is not a very easy read.
April 2, 2012
This book was more like a text book in the way it was laid out, but it was nice to get a concise refresher course on development.
March 28, 2017
If you have any interest in morphogenesis at all, this book is fascinating.
November 27, 2016
Clear concise writing on cell development and its impact on development or organisms
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews