Table of Contents

PART I: QUESTIONS: INTRODUCING DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY.- 1. Comprehending Development.- 2. Differential Gene Expression in Development.- 3. Cell–Cell Communication in Development.- PART II: SPECIFICATION: INTRODUCING CELL COMMITMENT AND EARLY EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT.- 4. Fertilization.- 5. Early Development: Rapid Specification in Snails and Nematodes.- 6. The Genetics of Axis Specification in Drosophila.- 7. Deuterostome Invertebrates: Sea Urchins and Tunicates.- 8. Early Development in Vertebrates: Amphibians and Fish.- 9. Early Development in Vertebrates: Birds and Mammals.- PART III: THE STEM CELL CONCEPT: INTRODUCING ORGANOGENESIS.- 10. Emergence of the Ectoderm.- 11. Neural Crest Cells and Axonal Specificity.- 12. Paraxial and Intermediate Mesoderm.- 13. Lateral Plate Mesoderm and the Endoderm.- 14. Development of the Tetrapod Limb.- 15. Sex Determination.- 16. Postembryonic Development: Metamorphosis, Regeneration, and Aging
17. The Saga of the Germ Line.- PART IV: SYSTEMS BIOLOGY: EXPANDING DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY TO MEDICINE, ECOLOGY, AND EVOLUTION.- 18. Birth Defects, Endocrine Disruptors and Cancer.- 19. Ecological Developmental Biology: Biotic, Abiotic and Symbiotic Regulation of Development.

About the Author

Scott F. Gilbert is Howard A. Schneiderman Professor of Biology Emeritus, Swarthmore College, USA.