Com gens tan semblants generen morfologies tan diverses? El paper clau de la genètica del desenvolupament i la genòmica comparada en la visió darwiniana de l'evolució Authors Jaume Baguñà Monjo Abstract Since Darwin (and Wallace) put forward the theory of evolution by natural selection, embryonic development and morphological evolution experienced, except for an early sunny spell, an absolute disregard to each other. Since the 1970s, Molecular Biology, and namely Developmental Genetics, Comparative Genomics and, later on, Evo-Devo, have changed for ever this odd situation. Embryonic development is controlled by genes and genetic changes are the base of morphological evolution. Moreover, at variance to cannonical evolutionary thinking, genes are similar in class and number among animals, are functionally equivalent, and are expressed at multiple places and times along development. The conservation of genes and proteins requires that morphological variation stems from cis-regulatory changes controlling when and where genes are expressed. The analysis of these regulatory regions, how they interconnect forming complex gene regulatory networks, and how they evolve in time to account for morphological variation represent a new paradigm to set up a new genetic theory of morphological evolution. Interestingly, this new paradigm falls closer to Darwins unity of type with modification than to some basic postulates of the neodarwinian Modern Synthesis. Downloads Download data is not yet available. Downloads Text complet (Català) Published 2009-04-22 Issue 60, 2009 : Cent cinquanta anys després de "L'origen de les espècies", de Darwin / Arcadi Navarro i Carmen Segarra, editors Section Articles License The intellectual property of the articles belongs to the respective authors. At the time of submitting the articles to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, authors accept the following terms: — Authors assign to the SCB (a subsidiary of the Institut d’Estudis Catalans) the rights of reproduction, public communication (including communication through social networks) and distribution of the articles submitted for publication to Treballs de la Societat Catalana de Biologia, in any form and medium, including digital platforms. The Publications Committee reserves the right to accept or refuse submitted articles and the right to make any editorial changes it deems appropriate. If the suggested changes are accepted by authors, they should re-submit the article with such changes. — Authors answer to the SCB for the authorship and originality of submitted articles. In other words, authors assure that submitted articles do not contain fragments of works by other authors or fragments of their own previously published works; that the content of articles is original, and that the copyright of third parties is not infringed upon. Authors accept this responsibility and undertake to hold harmless the SCB for any loss or damage resulting from non-compliance with this obligation. Furthermore, they should include a statement in articles submitted to the journal regarding their responsibility for the content of the articles. — Authors are responsible for obtaining permission for the reproduction of all graphic material included in articles, and they should moreover ensure that images, videos, etc., have been created with the consent of the individuals appearing in them, and that material belonging to third parties is clearly identified and acknowledged as such within the text. Likewise, authors should provide the respective consents and authorisations to the SCB when submitting articles. — The SCB is exempt from any liability arising from the possible infringement of intellectual property rights by authors. In all cases, it undertakes to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary. — Unless otherwise stated in the text or in the graphic material, the contents published in the journal are subject to an Attribution - NonCommercial - NoDerivs 3.0 Spain (by-nc-nd) license from Creative Commons, the full text of which may be consulted at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/deed.en. Therefore, the general public is authorised to reproduce, distribute and communicate articles as long as their authorship and publishing entity are acknowledged, and no commercial use is made of them nor derivative work produced from them. — The journal is not responsible for the ideas and opinions expressed by the authors of published articles.
