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Enrico Coen

The Art of Genes

When you start to think about how an organism develops from a single cell you realise that it isn't as straightforward as it may seem. It isn't like creating an object from a blueprint, but the question is what is it like? In The Art of Genes: How Organisms Make Themselves Enrico Coen uses the metaphor of artistic creativity to describe the process of development.

Coen starts by introducing the idea of hidden colours - a code which determines how different parts of an organism start off the same but develop differently, for instance the different parts of a flower, or the segments of an insect. He explains how this is achieved via master proteins which can switch certain characteristics on or off. He then shows how diffusion of a chemical can lead a concentration gradient, and so a distinction between different parts of the organism. Later chapters of the book look at the place of symmetry in the development process.

The book has plenty of pictures - both diagrams of the organisms in question and works of art used to explain the artistic metaphor. This metaphor does get a bit far-fetched at times - for instance numerous artists on an expanding canvas - but I felt that it was generally a useful one, and leads well into a discussion of why development should be thought of as a creative process, rather than a predetermined path. However if you are knowledgeable in the subject then you will probably find the book rather slow going - I think it is more aimed at those looking for a gentle introduction to the role of genes in development.

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Paperback 400 pages
ISBN: 0192862081
Salesrank: 1126559
Weight:0.35 lbs

Published: 2000 Oxford University Press, USA

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Paperback 400 pages
ISBN: 0192862081
Salesrank: 255963
Weight:0.35 lbs

Published: 2000 Oxford Paperbacks

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Paperback 400 pages
ISBN: 0192862081
Salesrank: 491255
Weight:0.35 lbs

Published: 2000 Oxford Paperbacks

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Product Description
Over the past twenty years there has been a revolution in biology--for the first time scientists have been able to unravel the details of how organisms make themselves. The mechanisms by which a fertilized egg develops into an adult can now be grasped in a way that was unimaginable a few decades ago. The Art of Genes is the first account of these exciting new findings, and of their broader significance in how we view ourselves. Through a highly original synthesis of sciece and art, Enrico Coen vividly describes this revolution in our understanding of how plants and animals develop. Drawing on a wide range of material--from flowers growing petals instead of sex organs, and flies that develop an extra pair of wings, to works of art by Leonardo and Magritte--he explains in lively accessible prose the meaning of genes. Coen draws parallels between the way genes respond to the developing pattern of an organism and the way an artist responds to a painting being created on canvas, a memorable analogy that shows how the organism develops through an interactive dialogue in which there is no separation between plan and execution. There have been many attempts to resolve the paradox of how organisms make themselves. Lucid, authoritative, and entertaining, The Art of Genes offers fresh and exciting insights into the nature of evolution, development, and human creativity.

Product Description

Over the past twenty years there has been a revolution in biology--for the first time scientists have been able to unravel the details of how organisms make themselves. The mechanisms by which a fertilized egg develops into an adult can now be grasped in a way that was unimaginable a few decades ago. The Art of Genes is the first account of these exciting new findings, and of their broader significance in how we view ourselves.
Through a highly original synthesis of sciece and art, Enrico Coen vividly describes this revolution in our understanding of how plants and animals develop. Drawing on a wide range of material--from flowers growing petals instead of sex organs, and flies that develop an extra pair of wings, to works of art by Leonardo and Magritte--he explains in lively accessible prose the meaning of genes. Coen draws parallels between the way genes respond to the developing pattern of an organism and the way an artist responds to a painting being created on canvas, a memorable analogy that shows how the organism develops through an interactive dialogue in which there is no separation between plan and execution.
There have been many attempts to resolve the paradox of how organisms make themselves. Lucid, authoritative, and entertaining, The Art of Genes offers fresh and exciting insights into the nature of evolution, development, and human creativity.

Art analogies didn't work for me. ***
I found the art analogies did not lend clarity, and in the end, I skipped past as many of them as I could. If you are very interested in art, and less about the details of molecular biology, you may like this approach.

Art analogies didn't work for me. ***

I found the art analogies did not lend clarity, and in the end, I skipped past as many of them as I could. If you are very interested in art, and less about the details of molecular biology, you may like this approach.

Reasonable introduction to development. ***
This is a nice non-technical introduction to developmental biology, with some interesting historical insights. I agree with a previous reviewer in that the "painting" analogy used by the author is a bit far-fetched and tends to confuse rather than clarify the subject. In any case, after reading this book I feel better equiped to prepared to face a more technical book, like Sean Caroll's "DNA and diversity".

Reasonable introduction to development. ***

This is a nice non-technical introduction to developmental biology, with some interesting historical insights. I agree with a previous reviewer in that the "painting" analogy used by the author is a bit far-fetched and tends to confuse
rather than clarify the subject. In any case, after reading this book I feel better equiped to prepared to face a more technical book, like Sean Caroll's "DNA and diversity".

The New Genetics *****
As a High School student, I made many an inquiry into the very questions that this text (and other more recently published texts) seeks to answer or to explain. I was rebuffed by many a teacher then as well as in my later colligiate days as if I had asked something absurd like "what is God made of?" . Yet, just the street from my home as a youth, Kornberg was working on the elucidation of DNA Polymerase and across the pond, Watson and Crick were on the verge of deciphering the enigmatic DNA molecule. All this excitement and still, no real answers for nearly fifty years. This book by Coen is an absolutely wonderfully well composed and well written text that elucidates in great depth the real mystery that is the product of our genes. No longer concerned with the humdrum mechanics and mere architecture of DNA, it reveals the real magic and dynamics of the stuff that has for so long eluded such inquiring minds as my own. As a former research Microbiologist and avocational artist, I found E.Coen's analogy a genuinely perfect metaphor for representing the dynamics of the gene. I have reviewed many similar texts, each of which were excellent in their approach to this subject but I choose this text as a particularly marvelous text for both the professional and layperson alike to read for a comprehensive understanding of the true miracle of living matter.

The New Genetics *****

As a High School student, I made many an inquiry into the very questions that this text (and other more recently published texts) seeks to answer or to explain. I was rebuffed by many a teacher then as well as in my later colligiate days as if I had asked something absurd like "what is God made of?" . Yet, just the street from my home as a youth, Kornberg was working on the elucidation of DNA Polymerase and across the pond, Watson and Crick were on the verge of deciphering the enigmatic DNA molecule. All this excitement and still, no real answers for nearly fifty years. This book by Coen is an absolutely wonderfully well composed and well written text that elucidates in great depth the real mystery that is the product of our genes. No longer concerned with the humdrum mechanics and mere architecture of DNA, it reveals the real magic and dynamics of the stuff that has for so long eluded such inquiring minds as my own. As a former research Microbiologist and avocational artist, I found E.Coen's analogy a genuinely perfect metaphor for representing the dynamics of the gene. I have reviewed many similar texts, each of which were excellent in their approach to this subject but I choose this text as a particularly marvelous text for both the professional and layperson alike to read for a comprehensive understanding of the true miracle of living matter.

Some Matter, Much Art ***
This book takes on one of the big mysteries: how does each animal or plant (or fungus!) turn a single fertilized egg cell into its convoluted, differentiated self? Understanding of development is new and still partial. Over the last twenty years or so scientists have been able to piece together the way certain well-studied organisms (the noble fruit fly, of course, the snapdragon, and a couple others) come to become from a single cell, how a growing body finds its orientation, its myriad internal shapes and differences, without any guiding intelligence. As we see this story unfold, we must again sit back in simple awe at the astronomical possibilities of protein, which makes the tools, the materials, the very jigs and benches where life comes together. Coen does a good job in taking us on a tour of the issues that will be in play here. Biologists have been struggling for a long time with development, but it is only with the sophistication of modern chemical analysis and the viewpoint of DNA, RNA, and protein machines that the marvelous self-direction of the mechanism is starting to become evident. Amazingly, the flows of proteins from cell to cell via interdicting membranes, the interactions between proteins in one cell and those in another, the ability of a protein to change another, and -- singly or in combination -- to turn on or off specific genes (that do themselves make proteins that may furher elaborate this process) are sufficiently rich methods to build a body. Clearly such an assertion requires much detailed explication, and the author does provide this. But here I think he goes wrong by introducing an analogy to explain development. The author chooses to bring in the idea of an artist painting a picture as a help to understanding the way an organism builds itself from a single cell. There is, in fact, very little about the way an artist makes a picture that resembles development, except perhaps the notion of progressive refinement. However, none daunted, he introduces "colors" to describe the presence of one or another Master Proteins, and "scents" to describe the effect of certain membrane proteins on the Master Proteins in contacting cells. These colors and scents dominate the discussion thereafter, but must, naturally, be briefly dispensed with here and there as he describes the actual mechanisms in terms of molecules, but then up they pop again. There is nothing gained by this artificial isomorphism of color for molecule and scent for effect. An analogy, to be of some use, must give the mind a familiar structure as a map to an unfamiliar one. The spread of "colors" and "scents" along the segments of a developing fruit fly or diffusing dorsally/ventrally in a flower bud does not add anything. It actually requires an extra step to translate these colors back into the molecular populations they really are. This picture of molecules diffusing through a body is the conceptually simpler, as well as being, more or less, the actual. As the book went on I found the discussions of symmetry and handedness to be protracted, and the conclusions drawn interesting but rather muffled by that leisureliness. Explanations of shape and proportion and of how particular patterns arise during growth were too vague, and lost in the talk of painters and painting. Certainly there is much interesting material in this book, but to a very great extent it can stand on its own. Let the occasional painting metaphor season the narrative rather than provide the main ingredient. (OBSOLESCENCE CAVEAT: apparently the role of RNA in genetic regulation is just now starting to be appreciated. At the time Coen wrote, none of that was even suspected.)

Some Matter, Much Art ***

This book takes on one of the big mysteries: how does each animal or plant (or fungus!) turn a single fertilized egg cell into its convoluted, differentiated self? Understanding of development is new and still partial. Over the last twenty years or so scientists have been able to piece together the way certain well-studied organisms (the noble fruit fly, of course, the snapdragon, and a couple others) come to become from a single cell, how a growing body finds its orientation, its myriad internal shapes and differences, without any guiding intelligence. As we see this story unfold, we must again sit back in simple awe at the astronomical possibilities of protein, which makes the tools, the materials, the very jigs and benches where life comes together.

Coen does a good job in taking us on a tour of the issues that will be in play here. Biologists have been struggling for a long time with development, but it is only with the sophistication of modern chemical analysis and the viewpoint of DNA, RNA, and protein machines that the marvelous self-direction of the mechanism is starting to become evident. Amazingly, the flows of proteins from cell to cell via interdicting membranes, the interactions between proteins in one cell and those in another, the ability of a protein to change another, and -- singly or in combination -- to turn on or off specific genes (that do themselves make proteins that may furher elaborate this process) are sufficiently rich methods to build a body. Clearly such an assertion requires much detailed explication, and the author does provide this. But here I think he goes wrong by introducing an analogy to explain development.

The author chooses to bring in the idea of an artist painting a picture as a help to understanding the way an organism builds itself from a single cell. There is, in fact, very little about the way an artist makes a picture that resembles development, except perhaps the notion of progressive refinement. However, none daunted, he introduces "colors" to describe the presence of one or another Master Proteins, and "scents" to describe the effect of certain membrane proteins on the Master Proteins in contacting cells. These colors and scents dominate the discussion thereafter, but must, naturally, be briefly dispensed with here and there as he describes the actual mechanisms in terms of molecules, but then up they pop again.

There is nothing gained by this artificial isomorphism of color for molecule and scent for effect. An analogy, to be of some use, must give the mind a familiar structure as a map to an unfamiliar one. The spread of "colors" and "scents" along the segments of a developing fruit fly or diffusing dorsally/ventrally in a flower bud does not add anything. It actually requires an extra step to translate these colors back into the molecular populations they really are. This picture of molecules diffusing through a body is the conceptually simpler, as well as being, more or less, the actual.

As the book went on I found the discussions of symmetry and handedness to be protracted, and the conclusions drawn interesting but rather muffled by that leisureliness. Explanations of shape and proportion and of how particular patterns arise during growth were too vague, and lost in the talk of painters and painting. Certainly there is much interesting material in this book, but to a very great extent it can stand on its own. Let the occasional painting metaphor season the narrative rather than provide the main ingredient.

(OBSOLESCENCE CAVEAT: apparently the role of RNA in genetic regulation is just now starting to be appreciated. At the time Coen wrote, none of that was even suspected.)

Developmental biology in a new light. *****
Perhaps not the first time, but certainly one of the most eloquent and thought-provoking exposition of the wonderfully complex subject of biological development. The author first seems to invoke a parallel relationship of development and creativity as yin and yang, but finishes off the book with an intriguing explanation that human creativity is itself a byproduct, consequence, or continuum of development. The Biology undergrad or grad student may have grasped the fundamentals of developmental biology from "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (Alberts, Watson, et al), "Developmental Biology" (Gilbert), or "Genes, Embryos, and Evolution" (Gerhart and Kirschner). Enrico Coen's book, however, certainly provides a fresh outlook of plant and animal development rich with comparisons to artistic creativity, hidden colors, scents and sensitivities, interpretations, elaborations, and refinements. This outlook also raises the question of whether genes that dictate development can be compared to instruction manuals or artists painting their canvas---in the case of development, the instruction and execution are inseparable, and the genes are affected by the organisms they produce in a similar way that the artist responds to his/her own creation. Anyone with a molecular biology background can worry less about the details of gene regulation, differential gene expression, and protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. By focusing instead on metaphors or analogies in art and creativity, delving in Dr. Coen's thoughts becomes an enjoyable exercise in imagination. On the other hand, readers who need more grounding in basic molecular biology may find the analogies daunting, but Dr. Coen explains the formidably complex and amazingly orchestrated system of the development of the multicellular organism very well. The reader acquires a new appreciation of development using the mind's color receptors and chemical senses. I wonder, as a non-developmental biologist, if Dr. Coen has inadvertently left some gaping holes in trying to explain left-right asymmetry. Briefly he ascribes the establishment of this asymmetry to the intrinsic lefthandedness or righthandedness of the building blocks of life, e.g., D-amino acids and L-sugars/monosaccharides. This leaves me wondering whether so much more has been found or observed recently to provide a basis for this morphological asymmetry other than ascribing it to the intrinsic asymmetry of molecular building blocks. This book will nonetheless stand out as a unique perspective and exposition of one of biology's most perplexing and still most interesting phenomena.

Developmental biology in a new light. *****

Perhaps not the first time, but certainly one of the most eloquent and thought-provoking exposition of the wonderfully complex subject of biological development. The author first seems to invoke a parallel relationship of development and creativity as yin and yang, but finishes off the book with an intriguing explanation that human creativity is itself a byproduct, consequence, or continuum of development.

The Biology undergrad or grad student may have grasped the fundamentals of developmental biology from "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (Alberts, Watson, et al), "Developmental Biology" (Gilbert), or "Genes, Embryos, and Evolution" (Gerhart and Kirschner). Enrico Coen's book, however, certainly provides a fresh outlook of plant and animal development rich with comparisons to artistic creativity, hidden colors, scents and sensitivities, interpretations, elaborations, and refinements. This outlook also raises the question of whether genes that dictate development can be compared to instruction manuals or artists painting their canvas---in the case of development, the instruction and execution are inseparable, and the genes are affected by the organisms they produce in a similar way that the artist responds to his/her own creation.

Anyone with a molecular biology background can worry less about the details of gene regulation, differential gene expression, and protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. By focusing instead on metaphors or analogies in art and creativity, delving in Dr. Coen's thoughts becomes an enjoyable exercise in imagination. On the other hand, readers who need more grounding in basic molecular biology may find the analogies daunting, but Dr. Coen explains the formidably complex and amazingly orchestrated system of the development of the multicellular organism very well. The reader acquires a new appreciation of development using the mind's color receptors and chemical senses.

I wonder, as a non-developmental biologist, if Dr. Coen has inadvertently left some gaping holes in trying to explain left-right asymmetry. Briefly he ascribes the establishment of this asymmetry to the intrinsic lefthandedness or righthandedness of the building blocks of life, e.g., D-amino acids and L-sugars/monosaccharides. This leaves me wondering whether so much more has been found or observed recently to provide a basis for this morphological asymmetry other than ascribing it to the intrinsic asymmetry of molecular building blocks.

This book will nonetheless stand out as a unique perspective and exposition of one of biology's most perplexing and still most interesting phenomena.

scientific impressionism ****
A decent read for anyone interested in the science of how animals and plants unfold from a fertilised cell according to the choreographed activity of genes, and biochemical signals. Unfortunately - for me - the artistic metaphor was forced too far, too often, to the exclusion of the science. The author refers to hidden colours, and scents. What is wrong with a more correct scientific terminology? The use of a single colour to represent a certain cellular territory within a developing embryo etc also seems to risk suggesting an over-simplification. Surely it isn't just one gene / master protein / colour that is active.Coen was at pains to flog the artistic analogy for all it was worth even when it was not really worth it. To be honest my heart sank when forced to encounter another lengthy tract about Velasquez or Picasso or Leonardo or the artists interaction with the canvas.The problem with the whole analogy is the presence of the artist i.e. there is a conscious intelligence guiding the creative process which does not occur with the development of an organism from a fertilised egg cell. However this is a fascinating subject and - on balance - a useful contribution.

scientific impressionism ****

A decent read for anyone interested in the science of how animals and plants unfold from a fertilised cell according to the choreographed activity of genes, and biochemical signals.
Unfortunately - for me - the artistic metaphor was forced too far, too often, to the exclusion of the science. The author refers to hidden colours, and scents. What is wrong with a more correct scientific terminology? The use of a single colour to represent a certain cellular territory within a developing embryo etc also seems to risk suggesting an over-simplification. Surely it isn't just one gene / master protein / colour that is active.Coen was at pains to flog the artistic analogy for all it was worth even when it was not really worth it. To be honest my heart sank when forced to encounter another lengthy tract about Velasquez or Picasso or Leonardo or the artists interaction with the canvas.The problem with the whole analogy is the presence of the artist i.e. there is a conscious intelligence guiding the creative process which does not occur with the development of an organism from a fertilised egg cell.
However this is a fascinating subject and - on balance - a useful contribution.

Tour De Force *****
I am taken aback to say the least, to find that this book is out of print. I read it while touring India in 2000 and thought it one of the best popular science books I had read. Eventually my battered travel-stained copy fell apart, so currently seeking another. Enrico - if you ever read this, well done. You made a big impression on me. Easily up there with the likes of Dawkins.

Tour De Force *****

I am taken aback to say the least, to find that this book is out of print. I read it while touring India in 2000 and thought it one of the best popular science books I had read. Eventually my battered travel-stained copy fell apart, so currently seeking another.

Enrico - if you ever read this, well done. You made a big impression on me. Easily up there with the likes of Dawkins.

Exceptional read *****
I have a bad habit of starting popular science books and not getting through to the last page. I had no problem with this book - it makes a complex topic highly accessible. I'm looking forward to reading more books on Bio development. Highly recommended.

Exceptional read *****

I have a bad habit of starting popular science books and not getting through to the last page. I had no problem with this book - it makes a complex topic highly accessible. I'm looking forward to reading more books on Bio development.

Highly recommended.

A skillful and entertaining story of development *****
I was very happy to stumble upon this book on the development of organisms. In this popularization of the science of development Enrico Coen proves himself equal to the best science popularizers. I was delighted to find a book which empashizes that genes are not the only source of biological information which are responsible for development. As a physicist, and computer scientist it has always been clear to me that genes cannot explain organisms by themselves. In addition to the protein recipie book that is DNA there must be a mechanism for use the ingredients. It is not just the ingredients but the amounts, their use or omission, the geometry of the cellular growth, mixture or separation, dominance, timing and irreversibility...all of the familiar features of complex systems, and indeed the entire history of the evolution which is summarized in the structure and composition of the cells and their protein consituents. Coens book is successful in weaving the artistic analogy into a truthfully coherent and entertaining description of what is known about development. Initially I was worried by the title of the book, that the analogy would go too far, but I believe that the discerning reader will find the analogy only entertaining and sometimes helpful in providing a pedagogical reference frame. The author is to be congratulated on producing a timely and beautiful book on a conceptually difficult topic. Mark Burgess Associate professor, Oslo University College

A skillful and entertaining story of development *****

I was very happy to stumble upon this book on the development of organisms. In this popularization of the science of development Enrico Coen proves himself equal to the best science popularizers. I was delighted to find a book which empashizes that genes are not the only source of biological information which are responsible for development. As a physicist, and computer scientist it has always been clear to me that genes cannot explain organisms by themselves. In addition to the protein recipie book that is DNA there must be a mechanism for use the ingredients. It is not just the ingredients but the amounts, their use or omission, the geometry of the cellular growth, mixture or separation, dominance, timing and irreversibility...all of the familiar features of complex systems, and indeed the entire history of the evolution which is summarized in the structure and composition of the cells and their protein consituents.

Coens book is successful in weaving the artistic analogy into a truthfully coherent and entertaining description of what is known about development. Initially I was worried by the title of the book, that the analogy would go too far, but I believe that the discerning reader will find the analogy only entertaining and sometimes helpful in providing a pedagogical reference frame.

The author is to be congratulated on producing a timely and beautiful book on a conceptually difficult topic.

Mark Burgess Associate professor, Oslo University College

Stunningly good *****
This book is quite simply the best I have ever seen in its field. First, it is amazingly comprehensibly written, using straightforward metaphors to help the reader follow the course of the argument. Second, the argument itself is well laid out so that everyone from the beginner to the expert is clear exactly what is being demonstrated at any one point. Third, all unnecessary jargon has been abandoned, _without_ sacrificing any sophistication. Fourth, there seem to be so few authors who are willing to accept that genetic _and_ environmental factors play an equally powerful role in the delicate co-evolutionary interplay which is the story of the development of an organism. Enrico Coen is one of these few - thank you _very_ much, Mr. Coen!

Stunningly good *****

This book is quite simply the best I have ever seen in its field. First, it is amazingly comprehensibly written, using straightforward metaphors to help the reader follow the course of the argument. Second, the argument itself is well laid out so that everyone from the beginner to the expert is clear exactly what is being demonstrated at any one point. Third, all unnecessary jargon has been abandoned, _without_ sacrificing any sophistication. Fourth, there seem to be so few authors who are willing to accept that genetic _and_ environmental factors play an equally powerful role in the delicate co-evolutionary interplay which is the story of the development of an organism. Enrico Coen is one of these few - thank you _very_ much, Mr. Coen!

Fantastic analogy *****
This book does an excellent job painting the picture of how genes develop (pun intended). He makes the analogy of painting a picture to creating an organism, and it really worked for me. It's not a beginner-level book, but for anyone with a reasonable understanding of science and biology, it's a fantastic read!

Fantastic analogy *****

This book does an excellent job painting the picture of how genes develop (pun intended). He makes the analogy of painting a picture to creating an organism, and it really worked for me. It's not a beginner-level book, but for anyone with a reasonable understanding of science and biology, it's a fantastic read!

Chickens, and eggs *****
Charming and clear introduction to the basic 'how to' of development with a lot of information about hox genes in relation to form and function, with an engaging twist, the questions of art from symmetry to creativity. This is the best short introduction to very recent findings in a field transformed in the eighties and only now becoming public knowldege.

Chickens, and eggs *****

Charming and clear introduction to the basic 'how to' of development with a lot of information about hox genes in relation to form and function, with an engaging twist, the questions of art from symmetry to creativity. This is the best short introduction to very recent findings in a field transformed in the eighties and only now becoming public knowldege.

how development works *****
This book explains the essence of developmental biology in a very clear and beautiful way. I highly recommend it to anyone curious as to how an organism is constructed from a fertilized egg and its genes.

how development works *****

This book explains the essence of developmental biology in a very clear and beautiful way. I highly recommend it to anyone curious as to how an organism is constructed from a fertilized egg and its genes.

Wow! Read this one... *****
I've read a number of popular books on genetics. If you really want to know how a gene's influence unfolds in your body, this is the definitive book to read. Nobody is better than Dr. Coen at explaining how genes work in colorful metaphors that the layperson can understand. He writes concise summaries at the end of every chapter (Why don't other popular science writers do that?) Highly recommended reading.

Wow! Read this one... *****

I've read a number of popular books on genetics. If you really want to know how a gene's influence unfolds in your body, this is the definitive book to read. Nobody is better than Dr. Coen at explaining how genes work in colorful metaphors that the layperson can understand. He writes concise summaries at the end of every chapter (Why don't other popular science writers do that?) Highly recommended reading.