Managing variation in the investigation of organismal development: problems and opportunities
@article{Lowe2015ManagingVI,
title={Managing variation in the investigation of organismal development: problems and opportunities},
author={James W E Lowe},
journal={History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences},
year={2015},
volume={37},
pages={449-473}
}This paper aims to clarify the consequences of new scientific and philosophical approaches for the practical-theoretical framework of modern developmental biology. I highlight normal development, and the instructive-permissive distinction, as key parts of this framework which shape how variation is conceptualised and managed. Furthermore, I establish the different dimensions of biological variation: the units, temporality and mode of variation. Using the analytical frame established by this, I…
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