Genomic Regulatory Systems In Development and Evolution

Davidson has written a thoroughly engaging and visually attractive book...does an admirable job in synthesising and explicating a massive and complex literature in an accessible style. ...stands out in contrast to various other books on 'evo-devo' that have recently been published, through the adoption of a narrow focus which allows a great depth of treatment. Ronald A. Jenner, University of Amsterdam, in THE PALAEONTOLOGICAL ASSOCATION NEWSLETTER (2001) "Eric Davidson has made seminal contributions to our understanding of transcriptional regulation and, over 30 years ago, was among the first to comment on the importance of studying the evolution of gene networks." SCIENCE (June 2001) "This is a fantastic book!...No one better than Eric Davidson was able to synthesize the whole field of transcriptional regulation as it relates to development...Two points are specially striking in this book, the strength of the intellectual thread running through the book and the scholarly treatment of the most recent and pertinent data...To add to the pleasure, the book is loaded with beautiful documents, illustrating both primary experimental results and remarkable synthetic diagrams." ANDRE ADOUTTE, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (June 2001) "The book is a serious scientific exposition, crafted with care, beautifully illustrated and very timely. Researchers and students alike will find the book a rich and challenging source of ideas, questions and linkages to the literature. It is the integrated genomic view of the subject, however, that makes the book so valuable. We should never think of evolution and embryogenesis in the same way again." DAVID J. GALAS, Keck Graduate Institute (February 2001) "Davidson provides a vivid account of how cis-regulatory DNA integrates complex signals to control the on/off activities of gene batteries during metazoan development. The often-neglected "non-coding" genomic DNA is finally brought to life through the use of illuminating examples that span a broad spectrum of experimental systems. The book should appeal to students and researchers in the areas of development and evolution, as well as to computational biologists who are interested in modeling gene networks." --M. LEVINE, UC Berkeley "Probably the highest praise I can give a book after finishing it is to want to start reading it all over again. This is that sort of book... a great job in synthesizing enormous quantity of information into a digestible perspective on regulatory patterns and their importance for evolution. I learned an incredible amount from the book..." --D. ERWIN, Smithsonian Institute "Davidson's book is a fascinating exposition of the role regulatory networks play in both development and evolution. He writes with a clarity and insight that propels us into some of the most fascinating issues in contemporary biology. A must-read for all true students of biology." --DR. LEROY HOOD, Institute for Systems Biology