Genes, Development and Cancer: The Life and Work of Edward B. Lewis

ISBN-13: 9781461347460 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 557 str.

Howard D. Lipshitz

Opis

While Edward B. ( Ed ) Lewis is famous for his contributions to genetics anddev- opmental biology y, few have read his research papers. One reason for this is availability, man ny having been published in obscure journalsor as book chapters. A second is because his papers in those ?elds are very dif?cult to read. The dif?culty derives from the fact that Lewis has published infrequently, thus manypapers are condensed reviews of man nyyears work presented largely in summary form rather than in detail. It is not unusual for the reader to have to infer the experimental methods, even the results, from a few sentences. Furthermore, he often presents his results in terms of abstract models; thus it can be dif?cult to separate the data from the models. Ama ajor goal of this book is to make Lewis keypapers accessible to researchers and students. The papers are grouped into several sections that re?ect the changing focus of his research. Each section is preceded by commentary designed to place the papers in historical perspective, with respect to Lewis own ideas as well as to those of the larger scienti?c community. The commentaries attempt to highlight the key methods and results as well as the signi?cance of each paper by explaining the science in terms that should be understandable to upper-level undergraduates, graduate students and professional researchers."

Spis treści

Background -Invention of the cis-trans test for position effects -Position pseudoalleles -The bithorax pseudoalleles and the concept of developmental control -Gene evolution by tandem duplication -From cisvection to transvection- Extending the bithorax pseudoallelic series -Genetic versus functional models -From genes to gene complexes -Developmental genetics -Gain-of-function and loss-of-function alleles, and the operon model -Genetic mosaics: spatial and temporal aspects of bithorax function -The 1978 paper: a paradigm for the genetic control of development -Trans-acting regulators: positive and negative control of the homeotic complexes -Cis-regulation within the BX-C: the rules of engagement -Positional cloning of the BX-C -Completing the bithorax mutant series -The molecular basis of developmental control -Bithorax and the evolution of sexually dimorphic traits -DNA sequence motifs in the cis-regulatory regions of the BX-C -Evolution of the HOX complexes -Genetic and somatic effects of ionizing radiation -The political and social context -Leukemia and ionizing radiation -Political fallout -Thyroid radiation doses from weapons fallout -Best estimates of risk: leukemia in populations exposed to low doses of radiation -Estimates of lung cancer risk: the Batelle beagles