Deep Homology?

Lewis I. Held, Jr is a fly geneticist who has taught human embryology for 30 years. He studied molecular biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (BS, 1973), investigated bristle patterning under John Gerhart at the University of California, Berkeley (PhD, 1977) and conducted postdoctoral research with Peter Bryant and Howard Schneiderman at the University of California, Irvine (1977-86). Deep Homology? is his fifth scholarly monograph, following Models for Embryonic Periodicity (1992), Imaginal Discs (Cambridge, 2002), Quirks of Human Anatomy (Cambridge, 2009) and How the Snake Lost its Legs (Cambridge, 2014).

'The book is a great learning tool and valuable resource for students and researchers in the field of developmental genetics and evolutionary biology. The author, himself an expert in Drosophila development, gives an in depth overview of the research into how genes control the processes by which simple embryos turn into complex organisms. He draws out in a clear and concise manner the parallels that unite all animals in regard to developmental mechanisms and the underlying gene networks. The way it is conceived the book follows a novel and highly original approach, by directly drawing comparisons between known gene functions and mutant phenotypes in fruit flies and clinical syndromes caused by mutations in homologous genes in humans. As a result, Deep Homology? … will be a relevant and inspiring read for a broad readership interested in the biological underpinnings of human health and disease.' Volker Hartenstein, University of California, Los Angeles

• 1. Body axes; 2. Nervous system; 3. Vision; 4. Touch and hearing; 5. Smell and taste; 6. Limbs; 7. Heart.