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

by Jennifer Grenier, Scott Weatherbee, Sean B. Carroll, et al.

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0632045116
• ISBN13: 9780632045112
• Release Date: December 2000
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
• Length: 214 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Prelude to a Text

In a sense, Carroll has written the same book three times. "The making of the Fittest" is a work for the general reader explaining how our knowledge of genetics and embryonic development impacts and expands our knowledge of evolutionary biology (and vice-versa). His most famous book, "Endless Forms Most Beautiful," is aimed at college upperclassmen, and deal in more detail with the science of "Evo-Devo," evolutionary development. "From DNA to Diversity" covers much the same ground, but does so in a more technical and sophisticated manner. It appears aimed at graduate students and upper-division zoology majors. Presumably Carroll's next step it to write a graduate-level textbook. Toward the ent, "From DNA" reads like one. It is a marvellous book, and like a text, it requires and rewards re-reading. Unlike a text, however, it virtually demands to be read in order; not only do the latter chapters build on the earlier ones, but the degree of difficulty in the presentation increases dramatically as the pages turn. As befits a book which assumes a sophisticated readership, there are fewer "detours" into polemics supporting green politics or mocking creationist theory. The photograpsh and the charts are terrific -- full color, clear, and as easy to read and interpret as the difficult subject matter will allow. Because of the nature of the book, the discussion is less "thesis-bound" than Carrroll's other writings. Rather, he begins with a history of animal life, brings in detail about how embryonic development and genetic control of that process produces the diversity upon which natural selection can act, and weaves the two themes together to demonstrate how the process of forming animal bodies interacts with the changing environment to produce the multiplicity of animal forms we see today. And, Carroll goes on to show, the process is endless and at once aleatory and highly constrained. I recall an episode of the old "Twilight Zone" series where a British World War One fighter pilot flies through a time warp and lands on an American Air Force base, circa 1960. He talks to one of the airman, and says, "We had no idea how advanced you are." The reader of Carroll's book is likely to have the same thoughts about the field of evo-devo. In Thirty years, these people have gone from the discovery of the nature of the DNA molecule to the brink of an ability to create life a test-tube. I had no idea they had advanced so far so fast.

Evo-Devo For The Graduate Student

We have about 25,000 genes. Some of these are "tool kit" genes that we share with all other animals. They evolved well before the Cambrian explosion over 540 million years ago from a bilaterally symmetrical common ancestor. Almost exact counterparts are found in apes and mice, and close counterparts in arthropods and worms. Next to most genes is a stretch of so-called "junk DNA" that does not code for genes. These DNA segments contain from three to twenty (or more) switches that collectively turn that gene on or off. The switches are activated or repressed by the differing concentration gradients of the protein products of other genes produced by neighboring cells. By virtue of the servo-feedback loops creating unique combinations of the protein products of tool kit genes, cells of the early embryo create a geographical map of their future body. An escalating orchestra of domino effects builds complexity, each new development affecting the others. The tool kit genes and the other core genes that control biochemical function from bacteria to man are resistant to mutation. Novelty and speciation comes from the infinite variety of changes that come from the readily mutable genetic switches - allowing for changes in a segment without mortally wounding the rest of the animal. Not a single biologist 40 years ago would have predicted these discoveries. The exciting developments of evo-devo have sent jolts of electricity through the evolutionary community. Nothing basic has been overturned; much has been enhanced. For example: It used to be thought that eyes had evolved independently many, many times - after all, the lumps of light sensitivity in primitive wormlike creatures, the compound eyes of insects, and the eyes of mammals have more differences than commonalities. As it turns out, the making of each eye-like organ is directed by a PAX6 tool kit gene. Not only that, if the PAX6 gene from the mouse is artificially introduced into the genetic material destined for the leg of the fly, an eye will form on the fly leg...and it's not a mouse eye - it's a fly eye. The mouse PAX6 gene switches - influenced by chemical gradients from adjacent tissue in the fly embryo - cause the gene to produce a fly eye! Astounding! Tool kit genes (and other genes) are frequently named after the anomaly that doesn't develop when that gene is absent. The TINMAN gene controls development of the heart and circulatory system from butterflies to badgers - named after the Wizard of Oz character who had no heart. The wealth of information presented in this book will surprise, educate, and entertain the reader - and evo-devo researchers have just scratched the surface. New graduates in biology are surging into this explosive and previously neglected science. There are three other books that I know of that cover these captivating discoveries of the last 30 years: "Coming to Life," by Christiane Nusslein-Volhard. This fine book, written by a Nobel Prize winner for her me

Which Evo-Devo Book for You?

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.]

Tough going, but worth it!

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.

Wonderful intro to evo-devo

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!