EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT AS EMERGENT PROCESSES

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Abstract

Abstract This paper argues that embryonic development is best understood through the lens of process philosophy rather than traditional substance metaphysics. Drawing on both contemporary developmental biology and process thought, I demonstrate how key phenomena in embryogenesis-including morphogenesis, cellular differentiation, and organismal integration-align naturally with process-philosophical principles. Through critical engagement with major figures in developmental biology and philosophy of biology, including Turing's mathematical theory of morphogenesis and autopoietic approaches to biological organization, I show how persistent difficulties in developmental biology stem from implicit substance-metaphysical assumptions and demonstrate how a process framework better captures the dynamic, relational nature of development. Furthermore, I argue that this perspective provides novel insights into emergence in biological systems while resolving longstanding theoretical difficulties in developmental biology. This theoretical framework has important implications for both biological understanding and experimental practice.

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Most cited references 42

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The Chemical Basis of Morphogenesis

A Turing (1952)

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Reaction-diffusion model as a framework for understanding biological pattern formation.

S Kondo, T Miura (2010)

The Turing, or reaction-diffusion (RD), model is one of the best-known theoretical models used to explain self-regulated pattern formation in the developing animal embryo. Although its real-world relevance was long debated, a number of compelling examples have gradually alleviated much of the skepticism surrounding the model. The RD model can generate a wide variety of spatial patterns, and mathematical studies have revealed the kinds of interactions required for each, giving this model the potential for application as an experimental working hypothesis in a wide variety of morphological phenomena. In this review, we describe the essence of this theory for experimental biologists unfamiliar with the model, using examples from experimental studies in which the RD model is effectively incorporated.

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Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

Mary West-Eberhard (2003)

The first comprehensive synthesis on development and evolution: it applies to all aspects of development, at all levels of organization and in all organisms, taking advantage of modern findings on behavior, genetics, endocrinology, molecular biology, evolutionary theory and phylogenetics to show the connections between developmental mechanisms and evolutionary change. This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by "regulatory genes," but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (publisher-id): man

Title: Manuscrito

Abbreviated Title: Manuscrito

Publisher: UNICAMP - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Centro de Lógica, Epistemologia e História da Ciência (Campinas, SP, Brazil )

ISSN (Print): 0100-6045

ISSN (Electronic): 2317-630X

Publication date (Print and electronic): 2024

Volume: 47

Issue: 1

Electronic Location Identifier: e-2024-0117-R1

Affiliations

[1] Arizona orgnameNorthern Arizona University orgdiv1Department of Philosophy United States andrew.m.winters@ 123456nau.edu

Author information

ANDREW M. WINTERS https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7663-7222

Article

Publisher ID: S0100-60452024000100408 Publisher ID: S0100-6045(24)04700100408

DOI: 10.1590/0100-6045.2024.v47n1.aw

SO-VID: 4c3843dd-9d05-45f4-ad2e-90b662750c54

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

History

Date received : 05 November 2024

Date accepted : 08 November 2024

Page count

Figures: 0, Tables: 0, Equations: 0, References: 42, Pages: 0

Product

SciELO Brazil

Keywords: Autopoiesis,Emergence,Morphogenesis,Developmental Biology,Process Philosophy

Data availability:

Keywords: Autopoiesis, Emergence, Morphogenesis, Developmental Biology, Process Philosophy

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