Developmental biology and evolutionary biology are both mature integrative disciplines which started …

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Three major questions in biology: what, how, why?
• Historical overview: the evolutionary theory at the beginning
• The evolutionary tree of life
• Multicellularity - a major recurrent evolutionary change
• Explaining the origin of multicellularity
• Analogies and homologies
• The origin and evolution of developmental novelties
• The antero-posterior axis: a major success of developmental genetics
• Another developmental and evolutionary paradigm: the origin of the eyes
• Sexual reproduction: a poorly understood and recurrent evolutionary dilemma
• Concluding remarks
• Acknowledgements
• References

Biology Articles » Evolutionary Biology » Evo-Devo Biology » Evolution and Development: some insights from Evolutionary Theory » Introduction

Introduction

- Evolution and Development: some insights from Evolutionary Theory

The relationship between development and evolution is becoming increasingly popular among developmental biologists. As stated by Th. Dobzhansky (1973), we know that ''Nothing makes sense in Biology except in the light of Evolution'' Developmental Biology and Evolutionary Biology are however mature disciplines which followed parallel but separate pathways during the last century. Time is now coming to bridge this gap (Maynard Smith and Szathmary 1995), and presumably much remains to be done. The purpose of this short review is to draw attention to some problems in development which can be enlightened if they are considered within the frame of extant evolutionary theory.