Customer Reviews

Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think that very few people ever wonder how an egg grows to be an adult. People don't generally think about what tells one cell it's going to be part of a head and another cell that it's going to be part of a foot. Most of us have seen pictures of early fetuses, but how many wonder why the chick looks so much like the pig? For those who do wonder, this book is a very good place to start. (My 5-star rating is my estimate of the book's value to beginners.)

The topic is not the development of organisms in general, but of animals -- and only those animals (including us humans and most of the others that are important to us), who are called bilaterians because our bodies have left-right symmetry. We also have distinct anterior and posterior ends, with a mouth at one end and an anus at the other; and we have ventral and dorsal sides (front and back in us humans). In the very beginning of development, chemicals are produced in the right places to say, in effect, "This will be front.", "This will be rear.", and so on. All these chemicals do is to switch on genes that will begin to give shape to the embryo. This is the beginning of a process that goes from a single cell to a very rough shape through stepwise refinements to the final mature animal. This systematic development is what makes the subject interesting and accessible to us non-scientists.

Nusslein-Volhard tells the story at a rather elementary level. She covers only a few of the many developmental genes - so that the reader doesn't have to memorize a lot of names - and she says little about molecular mechanisms. She also focuses on the formation of the embryo, with some discussion of the larval and fetal stages and little about adults. Since the same principles apply to the later stages as to the early ones, this allows her to explain how development works while the reader has only a modest amount to memorize.

There are introductory chapters on genes, mutations, and how genes lead to proteins. I don't think that a person who has never seen this material before is ready for this book, but I think that many people who need it for review will be OK.

There are obvious implications for evolutionary theory, but that is the subject of evolutionary developmental biology ("evo-devo") and is beyond the scope of this book. For readers interested in this topic, I recommend the books by Sean Carroll, which I have reviewed. (Click above on "See all my reviews"; there are 3 pages.) If you already know a bit about how proteins interact with the control regions of genes and want to go straight to the implications for evolution, you may wish to go directly to one of Carroll's books. However, Nusslein-Volhard's description of embryology is interesting in itself.

There is a final chapter on current developments, such as cloning and stem-cell research. My first reaction was that this chapter didn't belong. However, the news articles I read on these topics show that a lot of people don't know any of the science involved, and a beginner's book on embryology is a good place to learn it.

In sum, this is a short book well-focused on developmental biology, especially embryology, and written for relative beginners. For such readers, who are interested in the subject, I highly recommend it.

In 1923, Hans Spemann conceived an experiment that became famous. He transplanted cells from an early newt egg to an inappropriate spot in another newt egg. After the transplant, a second head and trunk section grew instead of stomach. Since the donor cells were a different color, it was easy to tell that the new head and neck did not form from the donor cells. Instead, the donor cells influenced the development of its native neighboring cells.

Embryology is all about morphogens - chemicals secreted by organizer cells that influence genes in other cells by their concentration gradient. This is where our author has spent her life, becoming only the 11th woman in history to win a Nobel prize in science. She is among the key players who have brought embryology to the center stage of current research in biology.

There have been major advancements in our understanding of evolution over the past twenty years. For example: Scientists expected a lot more human genes than 25,000 - that's not too many more than are in a worm. Embryologists began to study evo-devo - how the embryo changed into an adult. Genetic researchers (like Nusslein-Volhard) discovered "core genes" such as the Hox genes that direct body segmentation and the tinman genes that create hearts. Adjacent to the coding genes, "gene switches" were found in the junk DNA. These switches respond to the morphogens, rearranging the effects of the core genes, encouraging dramatic evolutionary change. It came as a surprise that virtually the same core (modular?) genes were found in diverse species - from fungi to humans.

Most successful (nonlethal) mutations were found among the gene switches. Complexity and variety may be created by shuffling the patterns of control on the core control genes rather than by mutative changes in the core genes themselves. Constraints imposed by these core genes and deconstraint on the switches enhance the novelty that begged for more explanation.

Many have wanted to find "something more" than evolution by genetic variation and natural selection. Gould and his group wanted "Punctuated Equilibrium." Creationists and IDer's just want evolution disrupted and they don't care how. Christiane Nusslein-Volhard in "Coming to Life" describes how these recently discovered processes produce dramatic change in evolution.

In the last chapter, she discusses hot political topics - cloning, gene therapy, designer babies, stem cell research, and the moral status of the embryo. She explains, from the point of view of one who has spent her life in research, what is real, what is plausible, and what is utopian. Complete with her own hand-drawn illustrations and concise explanations, this book is a prize.

This book could be used by a motivated individual who wanted an introduction to the basics of developmental biology. However, it is not destined to be a popular science classic. Nusslein-Volhard is an excellent scientist, and does an adequate job of putting the science down on paper in an orderly and simplified manner, but she does not have the writing skill to keep the reader's interest. So, bring your own motivation, or forget it. There is no narrative skill in telling a story, or solving a puzzle, or building interest, it's just one pile of facts after another. "Here's a simplified description of fly embryo development. Now here's a simplified description of chicken development."

The book contains:

a brief historical review of important developments in the history of biology

an account of how complex segmentation of an embryo could be accomplished from simple morphogenic gradients (probably the best part)

a brief review of development in various model organisms (fly, chicken, mouse)

an attempt to relate this to human development

discussion of current ethical issues

Coming To Life: How Genes Drive Development by Nobel Laureate Christiane Nuesslein-Volhard is the study (in remarkable detail) of developmental biology. Offering a ground breaking analysis of the microscopic progression of fertilization and embryonic research, Coming To Life features collective observations and studies providing readers with a coherent explanation for the complex formation of life forms arising from the minute simplicity of egg cells, as well as other fascinating discoveries detailing the scientific conclusions surrounding the phenomena of life and its development. Coming To Life is very highly recommended for all students of biology for its knowledgeable and "reader friendly" presentation of the intricate concept of life-formation.

This book was pretty good. The material is a little tedious, and not presented in quite a "fun" scientific way (think Sean Carroll). However, if you're looking for a slightly higher level intro to developmental biology, this is a clear, concise book on the topic. The myriad pictures (all hand drawn, if I recall) really help to visualize the concepts. I recommend this as a solid devolpment biology/genetics primer.

Explain how animal embryos develop, and what guides the differentiation of various cells. Ever wonder how a single embryo cell can develop into so many different cell types in different organs? In a mere 145 pages, the Nobel laureate elucidates how it all happen in a simple and easy-to-understand manner that anyone with a passing knowledge of biology can understand and enjoy. It also gives me a humbling realization of how similar and closely related all animals are.

This was a great book for someone who doesn't know a lot about genes or development. The book was easy to read and wasn't hard to understand what the author was trying to explain. I read this book for a Graduate level Biological Anthropology class and it was a great introduction to German and other Scientists who usually get skipped over by English Scientists studying the same thing.

Professor Nusslein-Volhard appears to have augmented lecture notes from several biology classes to come up with a book. It is actually a very fast read and provides a snap shot of contemporary understanding of biology in general and embryology in particular as of 2006. The book does not have citations or notes and thus is presented in a "believe me; I won a Nobel Prize" approach. The books central theme (pages 43 to 86) is the morphogen hypothesis of developmental biology. The discussion focuses on the simplest and most studied case of patterning in fruit fly eggs, which are initially one large cell with nuclei arranged along the length. The model has chemical morphogens (put into place via the mother) diffusing through the cell to produce concentration gradients, which trigger transcription and hence differentiation in the nuclei. This model has been widely adapted in Evo-Devo to include all organisms and has been elaborated (without proof) by various authors (see SB Carroll, Endless Forms Most Beautiful 2005). There is a lot of "hand waving" in the book which would be OK except that the entire theory has recently been turned upside down. All that talk about freely diffusing proteins seems to be incorrect. Take a look at :

J Theor Biol. 2010 Mar 12. [Epub ahead of print]
mRNA diffusion explains protein gradients in Drosophila early development.

PLoS Genet. 2010 Jan 22;6(1):e1000829.
Evolutionary mirages: selection on binding site composition creates the illusion of conserved grammars in Drosophila enhancers.

Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol. 2009 Aug;10(8):509-12.
Follow the mRNA: a new model for Bicoid gradient formation.

If the bicoid story is wrong, what about all the stuff that is patterned after it?

Science magazine did a review of this book. The author is brief to the point of the book almost being a cartoon--the one saving grace is the author is a good illustrator, and the line drawings are excellent. The book is a mere 180 pages yet has a final chapter on such controversial and complex matters as cloning, designer babies, gene therapy, and human embroynic stem cells, and the author, says Science, holds unambiguous opinions in these areas. Since science evolves and nearly nothing is black and white (even Darwin's original theory of evolution has evolved over time), the reader can draw their own opinion. I'm not suggesting this is not a useful book. I've actually learned history from non-fiction comic books that are popular in Japan. But this book is written for a general audience and a lot of information is simply lost in the quest to reach the lowest common denominator.

According to Foxnews: "Fully 92 percent of Americans say they believe in God". Yet this book wants to insult them all by saying: "They are not the result of the unfathomable design of a Creator". There is no reason for Christiane to take this in your face attitude toward Creation Science.

The book is a fast read, sort of like a extended artical in a magazine. For more information on 'How Cells Communicate' you may want to take a look at Debra Neihoff book "The Language of Life". Debra is a lot more fun in the picturesque language that she uses.

Here is the whole quote from this book:

"The important conclusion of this theory is that the characteristics of living beings are subject to the laws of evolution. All currently existing beings originated from forms that have survived during the process of evolution. They are not the result of the unfathomable design of a Creator, but have developed as a result of biological mechanisms that have been tested and improved upon. Evolution is accidental. Its driving force is the process of selection rather than the goal-oriented adaptation that might result from characteristics favored throughout an individuals's livetime. Charles Darwin's theory has been consistently supported by modern biological research, and evolution as an explaination of the origin of new species can no longer be objectively or intellectually disputed."

I should give the book 0 stars, but my only real objection was this one very insulting paragraph where she tries to claim that her in your face evolution opinion can not be "intellectually disputed". Anything and everything in Science can be "intellectually disputed". That is one of the things that makes it science.