Mechanisms of Morphogenesis, Third Edition offers a bottom-up discussion of mechanisms of cell and tissue morphogenesis in a diverse array of organisms, including prokaryotes, animals, plants and fungi. Across foundational, applied and methods-based chapters, this book examines molecular nano-machines cooperation, generate cell shape, direct cell migration, and shape, form and rates of growth of various tissues in the body. Each topic is illustrated with experimental data from real systems, with particular reference to gaps in current knowledge and likely future developments, along with strategies to apply basic morphogenesis science across ever evolving applications.
Newly added chapters feature case-study-driven discussions of morphogenesis in natural embryos and organoids, and illustrate how pathological morphogenesis can generate variants of body form. This edition has also been updated with analysis of large-scale and scale-invariant mechanisms, for example, morphogenesis by differential growth in mechanically connected tissues.
Since 1995 Davies has run his own laboratory at the University of Edinburgh, with a multidisciplinary focus on discovering how mammalian organs construct themselves and how we can use apply knowledge to build new tissues and organs for those in need. Some of the work of his 20-strong research team is 'conventional' developmental biology; identifying signals and mechanisms used in natural organ development. Some is bioinformatic analysis (we host the editorial office of an international database for renal development – www.gudmap.org – funded by the USA National Institutes of Health, and the www.guidetopharmacology.org database, an international effort for the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology). Some of his work is in tissue engineering – his lab has recently developed a method to produce engineered 'fetal kidneys' from simple suspensions of stem cells, an activity that attracted considerable press attention last year. Finally, his lab is pioneering the application of synthetic biology techniques to tissue engineering, to 'program' cells to make structures that are designed rather than evolved.
Davies has published around 140 research papers in the field of mammalian development, has published one major specialist monograph (Mechanisms of Morphogenesis, Elsevier, 2005 2nd Ed 2014), one public engagement book (Life Unfoloding, OUP, 2013 (Hardback), 2015 (paperback), now in translation also) and has edited three multi-author books in the fields of development, stem cells and tissue engineering. His contributions to research and teaching in this area have been recognized by having been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Davies served as Deputy Chair of the National Centre for 3Rs, a government agency that promotes research that refines, reduces or replaces animal experiments. He has also served as Editor-in-Chief of the research journal Organogenesis for 8 years, and is currently an Editor of Journal of Anatomy and PLOS One.
