How do animals acquire their various skin patterns? Although this question may seem easy, in fact it is very difficult to answer. The problem is that most animals have no related structures under the skin; therefore, the skin cells must form the patterns without the support of a prepattern. Recent progress in developmental biology has identified various molecular mechanisms that function in set...

Translational developmental biology is a growing approach to studying biological phenomena that explicitly aims to develop medical therapies. When discussing the generation of new therapies it is often argued that they will emerge as a ?translation? from ?fundamental biology.? Although translational research is not a new term, ?translational developmental biology? has been steadily gaining popu...

The Hox genes encode homeodomain transcription factors that are crucial for body patterning during development. Hox genes exist in clusters and their chromosomal order mimics their spatial and temporal order of expression during embryonic development. This issue's Developmental Biology Select examines recent studies that shed further light on the key roles of Hox genes and their relatives durin...

The role of chromatin regulation in development is the subject of this issue's Developmental Biology Select. Recent discoveries link glycosylation to the repression mediated by Polycomb group proteins and provide insight into a developmental disorder that stems from the loss of a histone methyltransferase. Other work sheds light on particular developmental transitions, including loss of plastic...

Branching is a reoccurring theme in developmental biology. It is observed in individual cells in the case of neu-ronal axons and dendrites and in the patterning of tissues such as the vasculature of animals or the flowering architecture of plants. This issue's Developmental Biology Select reflects on newly discovered regulators of branching that have been discovered in diverse organisms. Inflor...

helpful is the comprehensive index and the “Dosing Regimens” section, which includes recommended drug therapies for exposure to BCN weapons. The text has a broad scope, organized into five logical sections (Clinical Principles and Practices; Infectious Agents; Biotoxins and Category B and C Agents; Chemical Weapons; and Nuclear and Radiation Syndromes), each composed of chapters surveying more ...

The integration of concepts from evolutionary developmental biology, such as the homology concept, into developmental psychobiology has great potential. However, evolutionary developmental biology is an attempt to integrate evolutionary and developmental explanation and developmental psychobiology has traditionally been concerned to avoid conflating these two kinds of explanation. This article ...

Translational developmental biology is a growing approach to studying biological phenomena that explicitly aims to develop medical therapies. When discussing the generation of new therapies it is often argued that they will emerge as a ?translation? from ?fundamental biology.? Although translational research is not a new term, ?translational developmental biology? has been steadily gaining popu...

The relentless nature and increasing prevalence of human pancreatic diseases, in particular, diabetes mellitus and adenocarcinoma, has motivated further understanding of pancreas organogenesis. The pancreas is a multifunctional organ whose epithelial cells govern a diversity of physiologically vital endocrine and exocrine functions. The mechanisms governing the birth, differentiation, morphogen...

Translational developmental biology is a growing approach to studying biological phenomena that explicitly aims to develop medical therapies. When discussing the generation of new therapies it is often argued that they will emerge as a ?translation? from ?fundamental biology.? Although translational research is not a new term, ?translational developmental biology? has been steadily gaining popu...