Life unfolding : how the human body creates itself / Jamie A. Davies.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Cover; Life Unfolding: How the human body creates itself; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgements; Ethical Statement; A Note on References and Footnotes; INTRODUCTION; 1: CONFRONTING AN ALIEN TECHNOLOGY; PART I: FIRST SKETCH; 2: FROM ONE CELL TO MANY; 3: MAKING A DIFFERENCE; 4: LAYING DOWN A BODY PLAN; 5: BEGINNING A BRAIN; 6: LONG DIVISION; PART II: ADDING DETAILS; 7: FATEFUL CONVERSATIONS; 8: INNER JOURNEYS; 9: PLUMBING; 10: ORGANIZING ORGANS; 11: TAKING UP ARMS (AND LEGS); 12: THE Y AND HOW; 13: WIRED; PART III: REFINEMENT; 14: DYING TO BE HUMAN; 15: MAKING YOUR MIND UP.

16: A SENSE OF PROPORTION17: MAKING FRIENDS AND FACING ENEMIES; 18: MAINTENANCE MODE; PART IV: PERSPECTIVES; 19: PERSPECTIVES; GLOSSARY; T ECHNICAL REF ERENCES; Chapter 2: From One Cell to Many; Chapter 3: Making a Difference; Chapter 4: Laying Down a Body Plan; Chapter 5: Beginning a Brain; Chapter 6: Long Division; Chapter 7: Fateful Conversations; Chapter 8: Inner Journeys; Chapter 9: Plumbing; Chapter 10: Organizing Organs; Chapter 11: Taking up Arms (and Legs); Chapter 12: The Y and How; Chapter 13: Wired; Chapter 14: Dying to be Human; Chapter 15: Making Your Mind Up.

Chapter 16: A Sense of ProportionChapter 17: Making Friends and Facing Enemies; Chapter 18: Maintenance Mode; Chapter 19: Perspectives; FURTHER READING; Concepts of adaptive self-organization and emergence; The inner workings of cells; General human anatomy; Development before birth; Human congenital abnormalities; Post-natal child development; Sex determination; The brain and nervous system; Microbes and defence against them; Stem cells; Biological communication and codes; Emergence of complexity from simplicity; Insect societies; Nature and Nurture.

Where did I come from? Why do I have two arms but just one head? How is my left leg the same size as my right one? Why are the fingerprints of identical twins not identical? How did my brain learn to learn? Why must I die? Questions like these remain biology's deepest and most ancient challenges. They force us to confront a fundamental biological problem: how can something as large and complex as a human body organize itself from the simplicity of a fertilized egg? A convergence of ideas from embryology, genetics, physics, networks, and control theory has begun to provide real answers. Based o.

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