Abstract
A theory of development would effectively enable one to compute the adult organism from the genetic information in the egg. The problem may be approached by viewing the egg as containing a program for development, and considering the logical nature of the program by treating cells as automata and ignoring the details of molecular mechanisms. It is suggested that development is essentially a simple process, the cells having a limited repertoire of overt activities and interacting with each other by means of simple signals, and that general principles may be discerned. The complexity lies in the specification of the internal state which may be described in terms of a gene-switching network. Pattern formation is a central feature in development; it is the process whereby states are assigned to the cells according to their positions, such that the appropriate type of cytodifferentiation is selected from the repertoire. The morphogenesis of the chick limb is briefly discussed. Genetic networks that account for such features as memory, competence and interpretation of positional information are given. The question of how these component parts are organized into a complete control system for development is posed as a problem for future study.—Wolpert, L., And J. H. Lewis. Towards a theory of development. Federation Proc .34: 14–20, 1975.
From Session I, Theoretical Concepts of Developmental and Age Changes, of the FASEB Conference on Biology of Development and Aging, presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, Atlantic City, N. J., April 9, 1974.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Apter, M. J., and L. Wolpert. Cybernetics and development./ Theoret. Biol. 8: 244–257, 1965.
Britten, R. J., AND E. H. Davidson. Gene regulation for higher cells: a theory. Science 165: 349–359, 1969.
Cook, P. R. Hypothesis on differentiation and the inheritance of gene superstructure. Nature 245: 23–25, 1973.
Cooke, J. Morphogenesis and regulation in spite of continued mitotic inhibition in Xenopus embryos. Nature 242: 55–57, 1973.
Davidson, E. Gene activity in early development. New York: Academic, 1967.
Davidson, E. H. Note on the control of gene expression during development. J. Theoret. BioL 32: 123–130, 1971.
Garber, B. B., AND A. A. Moscona. Reconstruction of brain tissue from cell suspensions. I. Aggregation patterns of cells dissociated from different regions of the developing brain. Develop. BioL 27: 217–234, 1972.
Garcia-Bellido, A., P. Ripoll AND G. Morata. Developmental compartmentalization of the wing disk of Drosophila. Nature New Biol. 245: 251–253, 1973.
Gaze, R. M., AND M. J. Keating. The visual system and neuronal specificity. Nature 237: 375–378, 1972.
Goodwin, B. C. The Temporal Organization in Cells. London: Academic, 1963.
Gould, R. P., L. Selwood, A. Day AND L. Wolpert. The mechanism of cellular orientation during early cartilage formation in the chick limb and regenerating amphibian limb. Exptl. Cell Res .83: 287–296, 1974.
Guerrier, P. Les caractères de la segmentation et la détermination de la polarité dorsoventrale dans le développement de quelques Spiralia. I. Les formes à premier clivage égal. J. Embryol. Exptl. Morphol .23: 611–637, 1970.
Gurdon, J. B., AND H. R. Woodland. On the long term control of nuclear activity during cell differentiation. Curr. Top. Develop. Biol .5: 39–70, 1970.
Gustafson, T., AND L. Wolpert. Cellular movement and contact in sea urchin morphogenesis. Biol. Rev .42: 442–498, 1967.
Heath, W., AND K. Sander. Mode and timing of body pattern formation (regionalization) in the early embryonic development of cyclorrhaphic dipterans (Protophormia, Drosophila). Wilhelm Roux’ Arch. Entwicklungsmech. Organismen 172: 1–27, 1973.
Hicklin, J., AND L. Wolpert. Positional information and pattern regulation in hydra: the effect of Y-irradiation. J. Embryol. Exptl. Morphol .30: 741–752, 1973.
HOLTZER, H., H. Weintraub, R. Mayne AND B. Mochan. The cell cycle, cell lineages and cell differentiation. Curr. Top. Develop. Biol .7: 229–256, 1972.
Jacob, F., AND J. Monod. Genetic repression, allosteric inhibition, and cellular differentiation. In: Cytodiifferentiation and macromolecular synthesis, edited by M. Locke. New York: Academic, 1963.
Kauffman, S. Gene regulation networks: a theory for their global structures and behaviours. Curr. Top. Develop. Biol .6: 145–182, 1971.
Kauffman, S. Control circuits for determination and transdetermination. Science 181: 310–318, 1973.
Lawrence, P. A. The development of spatial patterns in the integument of insects. In: Developmental Systems: Insects, edited by S. J. Counce and C. H. Waddington. London: Academic, 1973, p. 157–211.
Lawrence, P. A. A clonal analysis of segment development in Oncopeltus (Hemiptera). J. Embryol. Exptl. Morphol .30: 681–699, 1973.
Lawrence, P. A., F. H. C. Crick AND M. Munro. A gradient of positional information in an insect, Rhodnius. J. Cell Sci .11: 815–854, 1972.
Minsky, M. Computation: finite and infinite machines. Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
Rutter, W. J., R. L. Pictet AND P. W. Morris. Toward molecular mechanisms of developmental processes. Ann. Rev. Biochem .42: 601–646, 1973.
Saunders, J. W. Developmental control of three-dimensional polarity in the avian limb. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci .29–41, 1971.
Saunders, J. W., J. M. Cairns AND M. T. Gasseling. The role of the apical ridge of ectoderm in the differentiation of the morphological structure and inductive specificity of limb parts in the chick. J. Morphol .101: 57–88, 1957.
Saxen, L., AND S. Toivonen. Primary embryonic induction. London: Logos, 1962.
Spooner, B. S. Microfilaments, cell shape changes, and morphogenesis of salivary epithelium. Am. Zool .13: 1007–1022, 1973.
Steinberg, M. S. Does differential adhesion govern self-assembly processes in histogenesis? Equilibrium configurations and the emergence of a hierarchy among populations of embryonic cells. J. Exptl. Zool .173: 395–434, 1970.
Stern, C. Genetic mosaics and other essays. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Univ. Press, 1968.
Summerbell, D. Interaction between the proximo-distal and antero-posterior coordinates of positional information in the early development of the chick limb bud. J. Embryol. Exptl. Morphol .In press.
Summerbell, D., J. H. Lewis AND L. Wolpert. Positional information in chick limb morphogenesis. Nature 244: 492–496, 1973.
Summerbell, D., AND L. Wolpert. Precision of development in chick limb morphogenesis. Nature 244: 228–230, 1973.
Tilney, L. G., AND J. R. Gibbons. Microtubules and filaments in the filopodia of the secondary mesenchyme cells of Arbacia punctulata and Echinarochinus parma. J. Cell Sci. 5: 195–210, 1969.
Turing, A. M. The chemical basis of morphogenesis. Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, Ser. B 641: 37–72, 1952.
Waddington, C. H. The morphogenesis of patterns in Drosophila. In: Developmental Systems: Insects, edited by S. J. Counce and C. H. Waddington. London: Academic, 1973, p. 499–535.
Wolpert, L. Positional information and pattern formation. Curr. Top. Develop. Biol .6: 183, 1971.
Wolpert, L., A. Hornbruch AND M. R. B. Clarice. Positional information and positional signalling along hydra. Am. Zool .14: 647–663, 1974.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1975 Federation of American Societies
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wolpert, L., Lewis, J.H. (1975). Towards a theory of development. In: Thorbecke, G.J. (eds) Biology of Aging and Development. Faseb Monographs, vol 3. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2631-1_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-2631-1_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-2633-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-2631-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive