From Genes to Embryo and Beyond

Abstract

The study of embryology goes back to the nineteenth century when Karl Ernst von Baer recognized that there are similarities between embryos of different species and that those similarities disappear as the embryos mature into adults. This notion was later observed and studied by Charles Darwin, who established the idea of a common ancestor to explain embryological similarities. Developmental biology has been growing exponentially as a field since the 1970s when biochemical techniques and later on molecular techniques allowed most of the studies that have defined the field to its current status. Nobel Laureate Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, who pioneered along with Eric Wieschaus the discovery of genes that guide development in the fruit fly Drosophila, has taken on the gigantic task of writing a historical and sociopolitical account of developmental biology primarily for a lay audience. No one is more qualified than Nusslein-Volhard because she has carried out pioneering developmental genetics work in invertebrates and more recently in the vertebrate zebrafish (Danio rerio) and currently directs the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tubingen, Germany. Coming to Life, with a main text of 145 pages, addresses in 10 chapters major highlights that have shaped the field of developmental biology and how current scientific and social issues can be understood and perhaps adequately addressed in light of a more accurate understanding of embryonic development. The first nine chapters take the reader to various milestones in genetics, development, and biology in general. Each one of these nine chapters includes hand-drawn figures, which give a personal touch to the narrative and perhaps makes the content less intimidating to the layperson. The last chapter, “Current Topics,” is the author's personal manifesto of how to use understanding of development to be well-educated consumers of science and some of the issues that emerge from misuses and misunderstandings of scientific information.