jy PREFACE 



lems are those related to development. It is obvious, but often 

 neglected, that the genesis of form and function occurs, and must 

 be studied, at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. Most of the 

 attempts to relate chemistry and morphogenesis have stressed en- 

 tities on both sides of the borderland but have been silent on v^'hat 

 lies between. 



The basic premise of the symposium was that further clarification 

 of the relation between chemistry and morphogenesis will depend 

 heavily on the analysis of aggregates of two or more species of 

 macromolecules. The speakers, who were selected because their 

 main competence lay neither in chemistry nor in morphogenesis, 

 but somewhere in between, were encouraged to discuss the thesis 

 that many aspects of morphogenesis can be attacked in relatively 

 "simple" systems b)' exploring in detail the properties of the macro- 

 molecular complexes which compose them. To this challenge the 

 speakers responded with solid information, both confirming the 

 thesis and raising a host of new morphogenetic problems. Excur- 

 sions into other areas were inevitable and welcome. Thus, much 

 was said that is related to development only in the sense that it 

 poses the question: How does it develop? But whatever the bias of 

 individual papers, the entire volume is a record of a combined effort 

 to place a point of view before all who may profit from its con- 

 templation. 



This symposium was supported by a P.H.S. Research Grant 

 (RG-6228) from the Division of General Medical Sciences, Public 

 Health Service; the symposium was held at the University of Illinois, 

 September 7-9, 1959. 



M. V. Edds, Jr. 



