Abstract
Embryonic development is largely a problem of applied engineering. Molecular mechanisms combine with physical forces to create intricate networks of tubes, rods, cables and bearings, among many other types of structures. The illustrations in any textbook of anatomy will show you hundreds of structures at least as intricate (and seemingly well designed) as any ever built by human engineers. Yet the builders of anatomy are not conscious beings, much less intelligent ones, but merely cells and molecules, ultimately controlled by genes. Our problem is to trace the causal chains by which genes bring anatomy into existence.
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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Harris, A.K. (1994). Multicellular Mechanics in the Creation of Anatomical Structures. In: Akkaş, N. (eds) Biomechanics of Active Movement and Division of Cells. NATO ASI Series, vol 84. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78975-5_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-78975-5_4
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