The Regulatory Genome: Gene Regulatory Networks In Development And Evolution [Hardcover]

Eric H. Davidson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0120885638 | ISBN-13: 978-0120885633 | Publication Date: June 13, 2006 | Edition: 1

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.

* The only book in the market that is solely devoted to the genomic regulatory code for animal development
* Written at a conceptual level, including many novel synthetic concepts that ultimately simplify understanding
* Presents a comprehensive treatment of molecular control elements that determine the function of genes
* Provides a comparative treatment of development, based on principles rather than description of developmental processes
* Considers the evolutionary processes in terms of the structural properties of gene regulatory networks
* Includes 42 full-color descriptive figures and diagrams

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The Regulatory Genome offers evo-devo aficionados an intellectual masterpiece to praise or to pan but impossible to ignore. Although there is clearly still much to learn about the evolution of gene networks and how these in turn constrain evolution, Davidson has placed a cornerstone for the comparative analysis of gene regulatory networks. Further research in this rather fresh field promises to help delineate the links between development and evolution."
- Detlev Arendt, Developmental Biology Programme, European Molecular Biology Laboratory, Germany in SCIENCE

"...a highly informative book, provocative in the best sense of the word, and very much at the forefront of the field of developmental biology in the 'post-genomic' era. I recommend it highly to anyone interested in the subject."
- Igor B. Dawid, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, National Institute of Child Health and
Human Development, NIH, in THE FASEB JOURNAL

"...Davidson does an excellent job of reducing the complexity of different developmental pathways and modes of embryonic development in diverse animal phyla to a set of simplified and logical concepts and principles. He provides excellent illustrations and experimental examples derived from several model organisms: nematode worms, fruitflies, sea urchins, tunicates and vertebrates of different sorts. What is especially attractive about the book are the regulatory networks drawn as simple wiring and computational diagrams. These go a long way towards explaining the basic regulatory logic and engineering principles of some of the most complex biological phenomena: animal development and the evolution of body forms.

This book should be read by all biologists who want to understand how development and evolution take place and what governs the workings of genomes. I also recommend it to computer scientists and engineers who are interested in the budding field of computational biology, as reading it does not require an extensive background in developmental biology."
- Michael Karin, University of California San Diego School of Medicine, in NATURE

"Every step of [Eric Davidson's] logic is presented with examples to explain his idea, with beautiful, well-designed color figures. His concept of the significant roles of gene regulatory networks in development and evolution can be clearly understood using the aforementioned key terms....I strongly recommend this book to young scientists with multidisciplinary talents, who will advance the author's idea of the regulatory genome into its next phase, a voyage into the sea of genome complexity...reading this book is a pleasure, as it allows us to touch the incredible spirit of a very tough scientist. Davidson has developed his idea of the gene regulatory network in development and evolution for more than 35 years and has raised it finally to the level of a real paradigm."
- Nori Satoh, Department of Zoology, Kyoto University, Japan, in NATURE GENETICS

"Prof. Davidson achieves a remarkable synthesis of key concepts in genomics, embryology, and evolutionary biology. He makes a persuasive case for the importance of regulatory networks in revealing the logic of complex developmental processes. The book is at the cusp of traditional disciplines in the biological sciences and the emerging field of computational biology. We finally have a book that reduces complex phenomena to basic principles, and then describes how these principles can explain among the most remarkable phenomena in nature: animal development and evolution."
- Mike Levine, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.

"Eric Davidson is one of the real pioneers in deciphering the mysteries of development...This is a milestone work that needs to be read by every biologist interested in development, evolution and a systems view of life - for it provides deep insights into each of these areas."
- Lee Hood, Institute for Systems Biology,
Seattle, WA, U.S.A.

"Davidson's book is tightly written with an impressive coverage of the field...I don't see how one can grasp the rapidly changing views of gene regulation and its evolution without a close study of Davidson's book."
- Douglas H. Erwin, National Museum of Natural History, Washington D.C., U.S.A.

Book Description

A successor to Eric Davidson's 2001 text, Genomic Regulatory Systems.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Academic Press; 1 edition (June 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0120885638
• ISBN-13: 978-0120885633
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #864,141 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real theory of biology and evolution, March 22, 2007

By 

P. Calvert (Potomac, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Regulatory Genome: Gene Regulatory Networks In Development And Evolution (Hardcover)

This book will be a revelation to any biologist who has not been reading the literature on development and embryology attentively. Davidson eloquently articulates a real theory of the mechanism by which the genome computes the embryologic development of bilaterian animals. The argument is carefully developed from simple principles to more complex implications. The figures are a major part of the book's exposition, and repay very careful reading of the legends along with the associated text. The references are as current as 2006, so the book is quite cutting edge in its outlook. I heartily recommend it to any biologically sophisticated reader. It does presume elementary knowledge about biochemistry and molecular biology at about the freshman/sophomore college level. Enjoy!

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars advanced, difficult, important, December 30, 2007

By 

OhioValley (Kentucky) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Regulatory Genome: Gene Regulatory Networks In Development And Evolution (Hardcover)

If you really want to understand what is known about DNA transcription, you will first get a 500 level background in cell biology and biochemistry. After reading Genomes 3 by TA Brown (very good) you will hav a 600 level understanding. Now at the 700 level, the reading is tougher and doesn't fit together very well. You will need to read "Epigenetics" by Allis et al, since other authors mostly ignore it and it is important. Next, learn some embryology, which should be in an appendix in Davidson, but isn't.
Now you are ready for Davidson's "The Regulatory Genome." It is difficult and poorly explained. The core material is in multi-page figures with multi-page captions. The combination of no legend for the diagramming conventions, and highly complex biology, will surprise you if you are used to readily-understood biology figures. The transcription regulation discussed is that of embryological development, which is rather different from the metabolic enzyme regulation discussed in cell biology and biochemistry. If you stop struggling with the details in the figures, and hold them at arm's length, you get a glimpse of the essence of developmental biology at the molecular level.
There is much that isn't covered -- heterochromatin, euchromatin, transcription differences between the sexes, the master timing mechanism, the role of noncoding DNA -- but this is the frontier. If you want that glimpse, you should learn the prerequesite material, and THEN read Davidson.