Scientific Frontiers in Developmental Toxicology and Risk Assessment reviews advances made during the last 10-15 years in fields such as developmental biology, molecular biology, and genetics. It describes a novel approach for how these advances might be used in combination with existing methodologies to further the understanding of mechanisms of developmental toxicity, to improve the assessment of chemicals for their ability to cause developmental toxicity, and to improve risk assessment for developmental defects. For example, based on the recent advances, even the smallest, simplest laboratory animals such as the fruit fly, roundworm, and zebrafish might be able to serve as developmental toxicological models for human biological systems. Use of such organisms might allow for rapid and inexpensive testing of large numbers of chemicals for their potential to cause developmental toxicity; presently, there are little or no developmental toxicity data available for the majority of natural and manufactured chemicals in use. This new approach to developmental toxicology and risk assessment will require simultaneous research on several fronts by experts from multiple scientific disciplines, including developmental toxicologists, developmental biologists, geneticists, epidemiologists, and biostatisticians.

No field of contemporary biomedical science has been more revolutionized by the techniques of molecular biology than developmental biology. This is an outstanding concise introduction to developmental biology that takes a contemporary approach to describing the complex process that transforms an egg into an adult organism. The book features exceptionally clear two-color illustrations, and is designed for use in both undergraduate and graduate level courses. The book is especially noteworthy for its treatment of development in model organisms, whose contributions to developmental biology were recognized in the 1995 Nobel Prize for physiology and medicine.

The new third edition of Gene Activity in Early Development reflects the ten years of technological progress since the last edition. Providing a unique blend of classical and molecular knowledge, it discusses all major embryonic systems from both a comparative and mechanistic point of view. In deriving overall interpretations of developmental phenomena, it brings into play all the disparate forms of evidence, including genetic, molecular, and cytological.**This book is written for any serious student or scholar entering the field, whether his or her background is in genetics, molecular biology, or embryology.

"A subject collection from Cold Spring Harbor perspectives in biology."