Genes and Evolution - (Current Topics in Developmental Biology) (Hardcover)

About the Book

"This volume of Current Topics in Developmental Biology is being published at a time when many research laboratories are focusing on the evolution of diverse phenotypic traits and trying to dissect their genetic basis. A wide array of powerful methods have been developed in recent years to find the genes and the mutations responsible for evolutionary changes, so that empirical data on the "loci of evolution" are accumulating at a fast pace. The field of evolutionary genetics has now moved from pure theoretical computations of changes in allele frequencies in populations to assessments of the actual mutations that occurred in populations and that cause observable changes in phenotype, bringing up new ideas and new questions. Each chapter provides an overview of current knowledge and ongoing research on the genes and the mutations responsible for phenotypic evolution in different areas of investigation. As a whole this volume constitutes a remarkable material to reflect on our current state of research and to try to detect new future explanatory frameworks and ideas to be discovered from our examination of the genes and the mutations responsible for evolution"--

Book Synopsis

Genes and Evolution, the latest volume in the Current Topics in Developmental Biology series, covers genes and evolution, with contributions from an international board of authors. The chapters provide a comprehensive set of reviews covering such topics as genes and plant domestication, gene networks, phenotypic loss in vertebrates, reproducible evolutionary changes, and epithelial tissue.

Review Quotes

"In conclusion, this book contains many useful reviews of the genetic basis of evolutionary change and some helpful conceptual discussions, but its suitability for a graduate reading course in evolutionary genetics is tempered by the lack of critical methodological, statistical, and population perspectives." --The Quarterly Review of Biology, Vol.92, No. 4

Praise for the Series:
"Outstanding both in variety and in the quality of its contributions." --Nature