Evolutionary developmental biology, informally known as evo-devo, is a study of the developmental process. It mostly studies how organisms develop in embryonic (pre-birth) states, however it can also get into different topics such as how they developed in the past as opposed to how they develop now. This is the basis of evolution, adaptation and why they adapted.

The field's renaissance started with almost any evolution discussion, with Charles Darwin. Curiosity in the subject did occur before Darwin, with zoologists having no idea what happened in the embryonic state. Charles Darwin noted in one of his many studies that similar embryos usually meant there was a common ancestor between the two species.

Little progress would be made after Darwin until the 1970s, with the rise of DNA technology. A main component of this was the discovery of homeotic genes. A homeotic gene is a gene that deals with the development of anatomy in living organisms, like mammals, plants, and insects. The way this is done is through transcription factors (a protein that reads genetic DNA information) by homeotic genes. This discovery helped develop eukaryotes (an organism that has a nucleus and organelles enclosed in its membrane.

There are a few concepts which characterize the field of Evolutionary developmental biology. One of them is known as deep homology, which is looking for similar genes in different organisms thought to evolve at a different time that contain the same gene. An example of this is that insects, vertebrates and cephalopods all share the same gene, Pax-9, which develop the eyes.

Another concept within the field of evolutionary biology is that species do not change much from the way their genes have structured them to be. An example of this would be genes that code enzymes (A biocatalyst which speeds up chemical reaction).

Toolkit genes are the way structural genes can differ. They are unchanged and recycled many times in the embryotic cycle during various stages of development. These genes form a cascade of control, changing regulatory genes as well as structural genes in a pattern. The toolkit can create new morphological features, and create new species. This can also occur if toolkit genes procure additional functions.

Evolutionary developmental biology is a niche subject, though it is plentiful useful. It helps us understand what goes on at an embryonic level. The movie, Gattaca (1996), is a perfect way to see how far the topic can be pushed. With further information in the subject, we may be able to one day create perfect, imperfect, or completely unique species. This will only be possible if we figure out life's biggest secrets on a small scale, in the embryonic form.

Related Links: Science Biology Branches of Biology