A Constrained View of Evo-Devo's Roots

摘要

When all the hype that generally accompanies any newly proclaimed synthesis within the sciences settles, the hard work of merging diverse paradigms begins. This is the current state of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). Moving beyond the catching proclamations of a "genetic toolkit" for development and the importance of "regulatory evolution" for pheno-typic transformations, we are currently trying to develop a conceptual, theoretical, and empirical framework that will allow us to integrate the population-based models of microevolution with our understanding of the principles of development (genetic as well as epigenetic) and their implications for macroevolution. At such moments, the work of philosophers and historians of science can be of immense help to those scientists who are actively engaged in shaping the future of their field.