One of the major unsolved problems in biology is how a single fertilized egg develops into a fully functioning, sometimes conscious multicellular organism. Embryogenesis Explained offers a new theory of how embryos build themselves, and combines physics and mechanics with the most recent biochemical and genetic breakthroughs, based on the authors’ prediction [Gordon and Brodland Citation1987] and then discovery [Björklund and Gordon Citation1994; Brodland et al. Citation1994] of differentiation waves. As a follow-up on The Hierarchical Genome [Gordon Citation1999], this book is a shorter but conceptually expanded work written for the curious layman, scientist, engineer, or medical professional encountering the problem of embryogenesis. It includes enough biological background to be self-contained. There is also material useful for the seasoned biologist caught up in the new rush of information about the role of mechanics in developmental biology and medicine.
The Hierarchical Genome was a broad exploration of how differentiation waves can explain and unify many puzzling aspects of embryogenesis. Those who were not biologists came to us asking for succinct explanations of what was known about how embryos worked so they could apply their skill sets from diverse fields such as bioinformatics, computer science, physics, engineering, and mathematics to embryogenesis. This led to a set of lectures in the online Embryo Physics Course [Gordon Citation2013] covering anatomy, genetics, and biochemistry to an audience of scientists with no background in biology with supplemental lectures on implications for evolution and physics. The course grew until it became an official graduate course with Wayne State University. These lectures became the basis for Embryogenesis Explained.
When reading biological literature one finds there is a lot of jargon and concepts that are simply accepted as factual without explanation, as well as a rich history behind the vocabulary and concepts that can appear incomprehensible and even nonsensical to an outsider. (They actually named a gene Sonic Hedgehog?) As an undergraduate student learning this stuff I was given the book Recombinant DNA [Watson et al. Citation1992] which gently and thoroughly took me from the basics of DNA structure right through to understanding the latest breakthroughs in the field. Reading that book was such a pleasure compared to the typical biology textbook that I decided that if I ever wrote a biology book I would try my best to do it in that style. If you start Embryogenesis Explained with no formal training in biology and you find you can finish it appreciating the wonder, beauty, and glory of embryogenesis and how differentiation waves complete the story, then we will have succeeded.
References
- Björklund, N.K. and Gordon, R. (1994) Surface contraction and expansion waves correlated with differentiation in axolotl embryos. I. Prolegomenon and differentiation during the plunge through the blastopore, as shown by the fate map. Comput Chem 18:333-345.
- Brodland, G.W., Gordon, R., Scott, M.J., Björklund, N.K., Luchka, K.B., Martin, C.C., et al. (1994) Furrowing surface contraction wave coincident with primary neural induction in amphibian embryos. J Morphol 219:131-142.
- Gordon, R. (2013) Conception and development of the Second Life® Embryo Physics Course. Syst Biol Reprod Med 59:131-139.
- Gordon, R. (1999) The Hierarchical Genome and Differentiation Waves: Novel Unification of Development, Genetics and Evolution, World Scientific & Imperial College Press, Singapore & London.
- Gordon, R. and Brodland, G.W. (1987) The cytoskeletal mechanics of brain morphogenesis. Cell state splitters cause primary neural induction. Cell Biophys 11:177-238.
- Watson, J.D., Gilman, M., Witkowski, J. and Zoller, M. (1992) Recombinant DNA, Scientific American Books, New York.