From DNA to Diversity: Molecular Genetics and the Evolution of Animal Design (Paperback)

~ Sean Carroll (Author), Jennifer Grenier (Author), Scott Weatherbee (Author)
Key Phrases: toolkit genes, bab expression, insect hindwings, Proc Natl Acad Sci, Dev Biol, Curr Biol (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Sean Carroll, author of one of the books under review and a coauthor of another, has made important contributions to the understanding of evolution and development. From DNA to Diversity, written with two other scientists, is the second edition of a book that has become a classic for students of evolution."

The New York Review of Books, Volume LIII, Number 8

"With almost poetic ease, the authors tell a highly complex story without distorting its scientific substance. The story line goes through the levels of biological hierarchy all the way to the details of gene regulation and emerges with a deeper understanding of biological diversity. In Sean Carroll developmental evolution has found its Darwin."

Gunter Wagner, Yale University<!--end-->

"This book will be an excellent introductory text, exciting newcomers to the field, be they students in biology, or experts in either evolutionary biology or embryology who want to gain an appreciation for the insights developmental genetics is providing into the evolution of animal diversity."

Cliff Tabin, Harvard University Medical School

"From DNA to Diversity is written for a general audience, including undergraduates, with an interest in developmental and evolutionary biology, and it is a joy to read. Using striking examples, the authors summarize the current state of thinking on the interconnectedness between developmental genetics and evolutionary diversification."

Axel Meyer, University of Konstanz; Nature

"This book helps to fill a gap in the teaching of evolutionary theory that arose because developmental biology was not a direct participant in the evolutionary synthesis….This is an outstanding account of the latest findings in molecular developmental biology."

James W. Valentine, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Berkeley

"The authors have done an excellent job of distilling the large and complex literature on molecular genetics that is pertinent to understanding how gene networks evolve... The writing is consistently clear, concise, and engaging. "

Gregory A. Wray, Duke University; Science

"Carroll, Weatherbee, and Grenier have produced a wonderful and exciting introduction to the field of evolutionary developmental biology....Newcomers and aficionados will find this a compelling read."

Martin J. Cohn, University of Florida; Evolution and Development

"...this is one book that everybody should read who wants to know why 'evo-devo' is such a hot topic right now."

Manfred Laubichler, Arizona State University

"From DNA to Diversity can be, and should be read by College and University students as well as scientists out of the field, who want to be informed of what is new and promising in biology."

Jean Deutsch, Universite Phillippe et Marie Curie, Paris; BioEssays

"An engaging style, clear, four-colour illustrations, and up-to-date content all combine to make this text a highly accessible and definitive synthesis of the field."

Ethology, Ecology and Evolution

“This highly technical textbook facilitates learning by its conversational tone, summarization of important points [and] exciting case studies…Beautifully illustrated… this book is a pleasure to read.”
Southeastern Naturalist

Product Description

In this landmark work, the author team led by Dr. Sean Carroll presents the general principles of the genetic basis of morphological change through a synthesis of evolutionary biology with genetics and embryology. In this extensively revised second edition, the authors delve into the latest discoveries, incorporating new coverage of comparative genomics, molecular evolution of regulatory proteins and elements, and microevolution of animal development.

• An accessible text, focusing on the most well-known genes, developmental processes and taxa.
  
• Builds logically from developmental genetics and regulatory mechanisms to evolution at different genetic morphological levels.
  
• Adds major insights from recent genome studies, new evo-devo biology research findings, and a new chapter on models of variation and divergence among closely related species.
  
• Provides in-depth focus on key concepts through well-developed case studies.
  
• Features clear, 4-color illustrations and photographs, chapter summaries, references and a glossary.
  
• Presents the research of Dr. Carroll, a pioneer in the field and the past president of the Society for Developmental Biology.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell; 2 edition (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1405119500
• ISBN-13: 978-1405119504
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #427,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful intro to evo-devo, June 16, 2001

By	DR P. Dash "drdneuro" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: From DNA to Diversity: Molecular Genetics and the Evolution of Animal Design (Paperback)

This is a short (about 200 pages)book, but it really is a fantastic introduction to evolutionary developmental biology. I've had an (amateurish) interest in this for awhile, and Carroll et al really clarify basic principles in the field. It is beautifully illustrated...full color diagrams and photos on almost every page. The basic concept is that there is a limited set of genes (the "toolkit") that control development and evolution throughout the animal kingdom. The basic function of these genes--like the hox genes, sonic hedgehog, ubx, and so forth--is clearly explained, and examples of the evolution of their function by changes in their own, and their target genes, cis-regulatory binding sites are shown. In depth coverage is given naturally to the fruit fly, but other insects also, and this is contrasted to the situation in vertebrate development. A real pleasure to read! Anybody with a college course or two in biology should find it comprehensible. I am absolutely positive this field is going to explode in the coming years, and I am certain that this book will be an inspiration for those who will become involved in it. If you're at all interested in the subject of the molecular mechanisms of evolution...don't hesitate to get this book!

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough going, but worth it!, August 4, 2001

By	[e-mail] (goteborg, sweden goteborg Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: From DNA to Diversity: Molecular Genetics and the Evolution of Animal Design (Paperback)

As a professor of English at a Swedish university I devoted several years to studies of British history of ideas, leading up, eventually, to a book about the general public's reception of Darwin's evolution theory in Mid-Victorian Britain. The subject has fascinated me ever since. I have naturally followed with interest the subsequent debates on evolutionary biology, including its philosophical implications, in the pages of such journals as Science and Nature. Therefore the title of the present book appealed to me. It seemed to promise an introduction to aspects of the Darwinian theory which were certainly unknown to Darwin and his times. At the same time I realised that knowing more about genetics was a must for me, if I was to keep abreast of the debate about Darwin.

I must confess I found it hard to assimilate the text, in spite of a clear style, and excellent illustrations. The sheer weight of unfamiliar facts and concepts made the reading laborious, to the point of exhaustion. But about half-way through the book (and helped by excursions into some undergraduate biological textbooks) I found that I had after all assimilated enough of the content to see that , for instance, the geneticist's seemingly perverse interest in the banana fly, Drosophila melanogaster, was indeed a rational choice. Many of the basic genes of the banana fly, especially those responsible for the early development of the fertilized egg onwards, are the same, or nearly so, as those that build up man. Not only are individual genes similar: their interactions with each other and their functions are also similar. For instance, though the banana fly's eyes are constructed entirely differently from those of man, their development, from egg to adult, are still controlled by genes that are clearly related to each other, and interact with other genes in similar ways.

These fundamental similarities between an insect and a human implies that their common roots must lie some 500 million years back in time, presumably in tiny organisms existing in the oceans at that time. Moreover, it seems that the genes in question, to be found in the DNA of the chromosomes of both insects and humans, probably come from even tinier organisms, namely primitive bacteria, which the multicellular organisms had incorporated, at first as parasites or symbionts, in their own more advanced cells. If so, we are carried back even further back in time, perhaps to a billion years before now. We seem to be on the point of uniting the biological and physical (and chemical) evolution of our planet. Darwin surely would have loved that prospect, far beyond his own reach. This book is not an easy read. But it will yield a rich reward to the persistent reader. Incidentally, such a reader might do worse than go on to read an astronomer's view of the same wide panorama: Delsemme's 0ur Cosmic Origins.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Which Evo-Devo Book for You?, November 15, 2005

By	Edward F. Strasser "Éad" (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

High School, College, Grad School? This book is at the grad school level. Carroll has also written Endless Forms Most Beautiful at the college level and The Making of the Fittest at the high school level. (You can check on "Read all my reviews" to read more about these.)

My own background is this: My formal education in biology consisted of an introductory course in college 40-odd years ago. Since then I've read a lot and in the last two years I've had a very strong interest in molecular and evolutionary biology. (For more info, click on my name, above. My Profile also has a link to my Listmania list of evolution books. Note that you don't have to be a grad student to read this book.)

I read From DNA to Diversity first and it was too much for me. I then read Endless Forms. That was pretty understandable, so I went back to Diversity and found it reasonable clear. I have since read it a third time and I am very fond of it.

Of the thousands of genes involved in the early development of animals, this book concentrates on a few, along with the proteins with which they interact and the various body parts they affect. Special attention is paid to the Hox genes and their insect homologues. Because these have large-scale effects in development, changes in them and in their regulation have profound effects on evolution. I especially enjoyed the section where Carroll combined many bits of information to show us the basic features that must have been present in the first bilaterally symmetric animal, that tiny but promising ancestor of us all. This is one of the bonuses we get for making the extra effort to read the grad-level book.

I find the text very clear and the overall organization - starting with the workings of the major toolkit genes, proceeding through descriptions of how those genes direct the overall shaping of the animal, and on to general considerations of evolution -- proceeds nicely.

[2 June 2007: This was one of the first reviews I wrote and I have added bits as my skills have improved. It got to be a bit patchy, so I have just finished a mafor revision.]