The Regulatory Genome: Gene Regulatory Networks in Development and Evolution

by Eric H. Davidson

Gene regulatory networks are the most complex, extensive control systems found in nature. The interaction between biology and evolution has been the subject of great interest in recent years. The author, Eric Davidson, has been instrumental in elucidating this relationship. He is a world renowned scientist and a major contributor to the field of developmental biology. The Regulatory Genome beautifully explains the control of animal development in terms of structure/function relations of inherited regulatory DNA sequence, and the emergent properties of the gene regulatory networks composed of these sequences. New insights into the mechanisms of body plan evolution are derived from considerations of the consequences of change in developmental gene regulatory networks. Examples of crucial evidence underscore each major concept. The clear writing style explains regulatory causality without requiring a sophisticated background in descriptive developmental biology. This unique text supersedes anything currently available in the market.

Genres: Biology, Science

304 pages, Hardcover

First published May 30, 2006

About the author

Eric Harris Davidson was an American developmental biologist at the California Institute of Technology. Davidson was best known for his pioneering work on the role of gene regulation in evolution, on embryonic specification and for spearheading the effort to sequence the genome of the purple sea urchin, Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. He devoted a large part of his professional career to developing an understanding of embryogenesis at the genetic level. He wrote many academic works describing his work, including a textbook on early animal development.

Reviews

[Yani · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dated by now, but I don't think much of this book has been disproven as of yet. I any case, one can only have respect for Davidson to have written such titanic book. The only downside is that he did not manage to do it clearly. The writing is definitely quite convoluted and he uses many archaic words (which is good for my vocabulary, but bad for readability. For instance I now know the words atavistic and staid).