18 GENE ACTIVITY IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT 



1968 



by E. H. Davidson Academic Press 



375 pp., 102 figs., 15 tbs. New York - London 



SBN 12 205150 5 

 Price: $ 12.50; 116 s. 



Contents: I. Gene activity in early embryogenesis, II. Cytoplasmic localization and the 

 onset of differentiation, III. Gene function in oogenesis, IV. Immediacy of gene control and 

 the regulation of gene activity. 



This is a very important book. The rate of accumulation of new data in 

 this field is so high that many, particularly teachers, will welcome this com- 

 petent and extremely readable survey. An important feature of the book is 

 that it provides a link between the biochemical research of the last ten years 

 or so, and the large body of brilliant classical research on ooplasmic 

 localization that was performed in the years around the turn of the century, 

 with which most of the present-day workers are insufficiently familiar. In this 

 respect the book may almost be regarded as a sequel to E. B. Wilson's famous 

 treatise "The cell in development and heredity". 



The author has intentionally restricted himself largely to early stages of 

 embryogenesis (up to and including gastrulation) because of the wealth of 

 information available on these stages in particular, and because in later stages 

 the problem is increasingly complicated by tissue interactions. 



To characterize the book, we can do no better than quote part of the preface: 



Section I is concerned with gene activity in early embryogenesis, with the time of onset 

 and the nature of embryo genome control, and with recent attempts to analyze the shifting 

 patterns of gene expression as development proceeds. In Section II various classic and recent 

 studies relevant to the phenomenon of cytoplasmic localization of morphogenetic potential 

 are reviewed, and the significance, from a contemporary vantage point, of this often neglected 

 area of developmental biology is discussed. Section III deals with genomic function in 

 oogenesis, beginning with a general survey of what could be described loosely as the natural 

 history of the oocyte nucleus, and proceeding to current attempts to understand the character 

 and the ultimate function of the oocyte gene products. In Section IV various aspects of the 

 general problem of gene regulation in animal cells are discussed. 



For the historically-minded embryologist we may add that Section II con- 

 tains an excellent discussion of the origins of nineteenth-century neoprefor- 

 mationism. This is followed by a thoughtful discussion of the much debated 

 antithesis of regulative versus mosaic development. 



The book is profusely illustrated and most figures have extensive explana- 

 tory captions. The only feature of the book that is apt to provoke criticism 

 is the irrational hterature reference system, which, among other things, makes 

 the author index very difficult to use. Also, the subject index could have been 

 more detailed. 



19 ETUDE BIOCHIMIQUE DE LA METAMORPHOSE 



CAUDALE DES AMPHIBIENS ANOURES 

 1969 

 by Y. Eeckhout Academie Royale de Belgique 



Acad. Roy. Belg. CI. des Sci.. Bruxelles 



Memoires 38, fasc. 4 

 113 pp., 29 figs., 26 tbs. 

 (paper-bound) 



Although this research monograph is not commercially available, it is of 

 sufficient interest to be briefly reviewed. After an extensive literature survey, 

 it reports on original biochemical investigations both on the intact meta- 

 morphosing tadpole tail and on the isolated tail treated with thyroxine. The 



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