Between Genetics and Physics
Posted by Alan Love, on 15 July 2015
The predominant approach to studying development is based on genetics. In fact, some have gone so far as to argue that many researchers approach the whole problem of development as “the interplay of cell-cell signaling and transcriptional regulation” (Gerhart 2015). However, in recent years there has been increasing recognition of approaches to understanding development that are drawn from physical science. For example, Savin and colleagues (2011) highlighted a “renewed appreciation of the fact that to understand morphogenesis in three dimensions, it is necessary to combine molecular insights (genes and morphogens) with knowledge of physical processes (transport, deformation and flow) generated by growing tissues.”
This past spring, as part of a three-year initiative at the University of Minnesota entitled “Integrating Generic and Genetic Explanatory Approaches to Biological Phenomena,” a workshop was held to explore the prospects for integrating these different approaches to achieve a deeper comprehension of development. Four invited experts—Lance Davidson, Michael Levin, Claudio Stern, and Eric Wieschaus—joined several local participants and a core team composed of four biologists (Doug Erwin, Karl Niklas, Stuart Newman, Günter Wagner), four philosophers (Robert Batterman, James Griesemer, Alan Love, William Wimsatt), and a project postdoctoral researcher (Tom Stewart) for several days of focused discussion on the prospects for integrating these approaches to study and explain development. Topics of discussion ranged from experimental challenges and opportunities in particular model organisms to the place and value of computational modeling.
These discussions were guided by an organized set of readings, which is now available online. These papers might be of interest to many readers of The Node because they survey the state of research in different areas of developmental biology, describe relevant technological advances and useful experimental systems, and could provide the inspiration or scaffold for a graduate level course on the subject.
A more detailed meeting report is forthcoming, as well as a review article that details the status of current models available for combining genetic and physical approaches to different developmental questions (differentiation, morphogenesis, pattern formation) and future prospects for developmental biologists to integrate these approaches in novel ways. Judging by the lively interactions at the workshop, this will continue to be an area of developmental biology to watch over the next few years.
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Thank you for this tremendous resource. The workshop readings are fascinating. (Third) Eye-opening, to say the least.
Development is so beautiful.