Can A Data Rich Environment Help Identify The Sources Of Model Misspecification

Can a Data-rich Environment Help Identify the Sources of Model Misspecification?

MorphoEvoDevo: A Multilevel Approach to Elucidate the Evolution of Metazoan Organ Systems

Analyzing animal development in a comparative framework provides a unique window into evolutionary history. With a long tradition that dates back to iconic 19th-century zoologists such as Ernst Haeckel and Charles Darwin, Evolutionary Developmental Biology is firmly rooted in morphological research. While studies using a classical model system approach have resulted in considerable methodological progress, in particular by establishing molecular genetic tools to tackle questions surrounding animal development, it quickly became obvious that a broad comparative dataset involving as many taxa as possible is necessary for sound evolutionary inferences. Thus, today’s EvoDevo embraces morphological, molecular, and experimental procedures, interpreted in a phylogenetic framework, in order to answer key questions that revolve around the evolution of animal cell types, organ systems, and, ultimately, entire species.

The Genetic Basis of Common Diseases

Since the first edition of this highly acclaimed text was published in 1992, much new knowledge has been gained about the role of genetic factors in common adult diseases, and we now have a better understanding of the molecular processes involved in genetic susceptibility and diseases mechanisms. The second edition fully incorporates these advances. The entire book has been updated and twelve new chapters have been added. Most of these chapters deal with diseases such as gallstones, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, skin cancer, other common skin diseases, prostate cancer and migraine headaches that are seen by all physicians. Others address the genetic and molecular basis of spondylarthropathies, lupus, hemochromatosis, IgA deficiency, mental retardation, hearing loss, and the role of mitochondrial variation in adult diseases. Chapters on the evolution of human genetic disease and on animal models add important background on the omplexities of these diseases. Unique clinical applications of genetics to common diseases are covered in the additional new chapters on genetic counseling, pharmacogenetics, and the genetic consequences of modern therapeutics.