“Today we understand that a a fertilized egg contains the genetic information, contributed by both parents. That is “heredity.” The subsequent process, the development of a new individual from the humble starting point of a single cell, the fertilized egg, involves implementing that information. Broken down in terms of academic disciplines, “genetics” focuses on the information and developmental biology focuses on the use of that information.”
Developmental Biology: the production of organisms with a defined set of characteristics. (Brooker, 4) The underlying process that gives rise to the structure and function of living organisms. A series of changes in the state of a “cell,” “tissue,” “organ,” or organism. (Brooker, 391)
Many coordinated actions within cells and between cells are required for normal embryonic development. Cells send and receive messages over short and long distances that determine what they will become and where they will go. Improper regulation of these developmental processes can have long-term effects on the developing embryo. (SDBCoRe, Topics-Developmental Processes) Developmental biology naturally synthesizes multiple scientific disciplines. Evolutionary developmental biology concerns itself with how heritable changes in development can be achieved over evolutionary time. Ecological developmental biology examines how both the micro and macro environment impact development of an organism. (SDBCoRe, Topics-Evolutionary & Ecological Development)
Cell Differentiation: the phenomenon in which cells become specialized into particular cell types. (Brooker, G-6). Unspecialized cells or tissues become specialized for particular functions. (OxfordMed) Basic cell process to create “tissues” and “organs.” (Brooker, 203) Also referred to as “cell differentiation.”
Cell Growth: the production of more or larger cells. (Norman, 5/26/09) Following “cell division,” cells take up nutrients and usually expand in volume. (Brooker, 203)
Development: the action or process of developing; "evolution," "growth," maturation. (Oxford) Processes that involve and promote formation of more mature organs, organ systems, or organisms; general development. (NCIt)
Evolution: the phenomenon that “populations” of organisms change over the course of many "generations." Evolution also involves the accumulation of neutral changes that do not benefit a "species," and even rare changes that may be harmful. (Brooker, 4-6) The fidelity of copying “DNA” is not perfect, and together with ”oxidative” and “ultraviolet” damage that has taken place in the course of generations, enough DNA changes have occurred to introduce new species “variations.” (Venter, 5) Prior to the advent of molecular biology, three disparate ideas held sway: Darwinian evolution, the idea that human beings and other animals evolved gradually from simpler animal ancestors quite unlike themselves; the genetic basis of the “inheritance” of bodily form and mental traits; and the theory that the “cell” is the basic unit of all living things. Molecular biology united those three ideas by focusing on the action of “genes” and “proteins” in individual cells. It recognized the gene as the unit of heredity, the driving force for evolutionary change, and it recognized the products of the gene, the proteins, as the elements of cellular function. (Kandel, 6-7) One universal lesson from biology is the organisms evolve specific ‘gadgets’ - machinery of such a fancy and outlandish nature - that they could be rejected on a priori grounds of smacking of an intelligent designer. (The evolution of these gadgets) has been borne out spectacularly in the development of molecular biology. Long-chained “macromolecules” such as proteins owe their functional diversity to their particular one-dimensional molecular configurations. This linear representation determines their function. (Koch, 102) Evolution among humans has not stopped;in fact, according to population geneticist Henry Harpending of the University of Utah, it has accelerated. Harpending and his coworkers concluded that 7 percent of human genes are undergoing rapid and recent evolution, challenging the notion that humans have not changed much since their dispersal from Africa some 40,000 to 50,000 years ago. (Johanson, 277)
Adaptive Evolution: evolutionary changes produced by natural selection. (SDBCoRe)
Memory Evolution: nature first created animals such as reptiles with sophisticated senses but relatively rigid behaviors. Then, adding a “memory" system and feeding the “sensory" stream into that system enabled the animal to remember past experiences. When the animal found itself in the same or a similar situation, the memory would be recalled, leading to a “prediction” of what would happen next. Thus “intelligence” and understanding started as a memory system that fed predictions into the sensory stream. These predications are the essence of understanding. To know something means that you can make predictions about it. (Hawkins, 104)
Natural Selection: the process that culls out those individuals that are less likely to survive and reproduce in a particular environment, while allowing other individuals with traits that confer greater reproductive success to increase in numbers. (Brooker, G-24) The force that determines the fate of all “genetic variations” in nature - mutations like the one (Thomas Hunt) Morgan found in the fruit fly eye-color gene, but also perhaps differences in the abilities of human individuals to fend for themselves. (Watson, 15) The process which results in the best-adapted organisms in a population surviving, reproducing and passing their genes on to their offspring. (Indge, 244) Also referred to as ‘selection.’
“The preservation of favourable individual differences and variations, and the destruction of those that are injurious, I have called Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest.”
Vertical Evolution: a process that involves “genetic” changes in a series of ancestors, which form a "lineage." (Brooker, G-39)
Growth: involves the addition of more body substance. This usually means that the organism gets larger. The pattern of growth differs between organisms. A human child, for example, grows because most of its organs grow. Plants however, tend to have particular regions of growth. (Cardwell, 129) (Includes) postnatal growth or development of organs or anatomical parts. (MeSH)
Morphogen: a mechanism that imparts positional information and promotes developmental changes at the cellular level. Influences the fate of a cell by promoting cell division, "cell migration," and cell "apoptosis." (Brooker, 394)
Nature vs. Nurture: interaction between “heredity” and "environment." (Hockenbury, 315) Issue concerning the inborn nature of an individual or the environmental influences that nurture the individual. (Hockenbury, 3) (Asks the question), to what degree is “behavior” determined by genes vs. “learning?” (Rose, Episode 1 Eric Kandel) Parts of behavior are determined by genetic programs and parts of behavior are determined by experience and you can point to examples which are almost entirely one or the other. For example, our ability to see “colors” and to distinguish colors, is something that is encoded by three specific genes, expressed within our eyes, that compare blue and red and green to each other. If you are missing one of these genes, you are ‘red-green color blind’ and there is no amount of thinking you can do to solve that problem. On the opposite extreme, the fact that some of us speak English and some of us speak Chinese has nothing what-so-ever to do with our genes. It’s completely determined by our education and our experience. (Rose, Episode 1 Cornelia Bargmann) Also referred to as ‘heredity versus environment.’
Newborn: an infant during the first month after birth. (MeSH)
Regeneration: re-grow after loss or damage. (Oxford) Reproduction or reconstitution of a lost or injured part. (NCIt) The physiological renewal, repair, or replacement of tissue. (MeSH) Regrowth of a missing body part at an adult or late developmental stage. (SDBCoRe) Adjective - 'regenerate.'