Journal
TRENDS IN GENETICS
Volume 29, Issue 12, Pages 712-722Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE LONDON
DOI: 10.1016/j.tig.2013.09.004
Keywords
evolutionary developmental biology; Karl Ernst von Baer; evolution; parallelism; recapitulation; morphological complexity
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Funding
- NIH [1R21DE021535-01]
- NSF [1257122]
- Templeton Foundation Grant [RFP-12-01]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems [1257122] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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In 1828, Karl Ernst von Baer formulated a series of empirically defined rules, which became widely known as the 'Law of Development' or 'von Baer's law of embryology'. This was one the most significant attempts to define the principles that connected morphological complexity and embryonic development. Understanding this relation is central to both evolutionary biology and developmental genetics. Von Baer's ideas have been both a source of inspiration to generations of biologists and a target of continuous criticism over many years. With advances in multiple fields, including paleontology, cladistics, phylogenetics, genomics, and cell and developmental biology, it is now possible to examine carefully the significance of von Baer's law and its predictions. In this review, I argue that, 185 years after von Baer's law was first formulated, its main concepts after proper refurbishing remain surprisingly relevant in revealing the fundamentals of the evolution development connection, and suggest that their explanation should become the focus of renewed research.
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