Integrative and Comparative Biology Advance Access originally published online on June 21, 2006
Integrative and Comparative Biology 2006 46(5):652-653; doi:10.1093/icb/icl011
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Book Review |
Developmental Biology, Eighth Edition. Scott F. Gilbert, editor.
Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University
Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2006. 751 pages. ISBN 0-87893-250, $112.
The eighth edition of Scott Gilbert's Developmental Biology contains a broad range of topics from evolution to the aging process. The book contains 23 jam-packed chapters grouped into four focus areas. The first area covers the basic "principles of developmental biology." This section includes the basic concepts of the life cycle, reproduction, and cellular interactions in Volvox, Dictyostelium, vertebrates (amphibians), and plants (angiosperms), as well as examples of the fates of cells and their differentiation. There are also details on differential gene expression and explanation of past and present techniques used in experimental embryology. Throughout the text there is in-depth coverage of the many genes and proteins involved in the building of an organism, whether the natural way or by way of transgenics and cloning. Part 2 covers early embryonic development in more detail, focusing on gamete formation, fertilization, and early developmental stages (cleavage, gastrulation, neurulation, and organogenesis) in sea urchin, snails, tunicates, Drosophila, amphibians, fish, birds, and mammals. Part 3 treats later embryonic development and meticulously covers the derivatives of each germ layer. Processes involved in the ectoderm forming the central nervous system and epidermis, the fates of the neural-crest cells and axonal specification, partitioning of the mesoderm to form the body cavities, muscles, and organs, as well as the formation of the respiratory and digestive tract from the endoderm, are well written and clearly described. This section also covers the formation of the tetrapod limb, sex determination, metamorphosis, regeneration, and aging. The final section "Ramification of Developmental Biology" includes a chapter on plants, as well as a look at how the rapid expansion of knowledge in this field has allowed advances in biomedical technology and stimulated much ethical debate. While much of the text covers animal development, Gilbert, with the help of Susan R. Singer, dedicates chapter 20 solely to the development of plants. The model organisms of plant development include the pea plant (a prototypical angiosperm), maize, and Arabidopsis. The events throughout the life cycle of these plants are described with details on recent findings from mutational analysis of plant genes.
Each chapter is highlighted with a section called "Sidelights & Speculations" to call attention to a hot area of research currently under investigation. Gilbert makes a point to go to leading scientists to get the most recent findings on each topic. This edition covers topics that have been in the forefront of discussions at annual meetings around the world and are also the topics of the funding trends in the leading funding agencies. These include stem cell niches, microRNAs, sperm–egg attraction and binding, left–right gene expression asymmetry, heart chamber specification, neural-crest cell specification and differentiation, somite formation, human brain growth genes, the embryonic origin of tendons, new sources of muscle precursor cells, sex determination pathways in the brain, newly discovered mechanisms of teratogenesis, the effects of endocrine disruptors on human development, the effects of maternal nutrition on gene expression, and susceptibility to disease in the adult offspring. The book also covers controversial discussions over digit specification in birds and dinosaurs and whether mammalian blastomere fate is biased at the first division. There are also web links to supplemental online information and a "Coda" that gives Gilbert's commentary on the significance of the subject being covered in that chapter and adds extra information that relates the chapter to landmark findings and transitions to the next topic to be covered. At the end of each chapter is a useful "snapshot summary" that gives a brief synopsis of the information covered.
I have used Scott Gilbert's Developmental biology text since the 1988 second edition. Each new edition has added more information and touched on new areas of interest. The eighth edition continues in that tradition giving new information, adding more visual graphics, access to the companion Website (www.devbio.com), and including a copy of an interactive CD-Rom Vade Mecum2: An Interactive Guide to Developmental Biology in each book. Web sites are listed throughout for the conscientious student who is curious to know more about a particular subject. These web links also allow Gilbert to cover the historical perspective and classical experiments while moving on to the current literature within the text. I highly recommend this book for upper level undergraduate students and graduate students. The amount of information and coverage of complex material may prove to be a challenge for lower level undergraduate students. It can, however, serve as a very good reference book for all students but may require supplemental handouts to abridge the wealth of information.
The book tackles complex concepts with clear understandable language and informative images. It is wonderfully illustrated with thorough figure legends that complement the text. Images of current research are combined with tables, charts, and drawings to explain complex problems in terms that an undergraduate student can understand, while being informative at a level of detail suitable for graduate students and other scientists wishing to gain insight into recent findings in the field or brush up on basic principles in developmental biology. A must-have book for anyone interested in development biology.
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