Afterword

Abstract

The subject of this book—branching morphogenesis—may seem to be very narrow, yet its chapters extend into a surprising number of aspects of modern biological science. The systems examined range from genes and signal transduction pathways, through morphogenetic apparatus within single cells to processes that take place at the scale of the whole organism. The techniques described include biochemistry, molecular genetics, cell biol-ogy, anatomy, developmental biology, biophysics and computer modelling. The applications discussed range from pure scientific discovery through biotechnology to improved clinical man-agement of disease. It would be presumptuous for any editor to try to tell readers how they might integrate the material in their own minds but, especially for readers who have no time to read the book in its entirety, I shall use these last few pages to summarise my own thoughts on the key questions of the field.