Symmetry Breaking and the Evolution of Development

@article{Palmer2004SymmetryBA,
  title={Symmetry Breaking and the Evolution of Development},
  author={A. Richard Palmer},
  journal={Science},
  year={2004},
  volume={306},
  pages={828 - 833}
}
Because of its simplicity, the binary-switch nature of left-right asymmetry permits meaningful comparisons among many different organisms. Phylogenetic analyses of asymmetry variation, inheritance, and molecular mechanisms reveal unexpected insights into how development evolves. First, directional asymmetry, an evolutionary novelty, arose from nonheritable origins almost as often as from mutations, implying that genetic assimilation (“phenotype precedes genotype”) is a common mode of evolution… 
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361 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
31
Background Citations
192
Methods Citations
4
Results Citations
3

361 Citations

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The results suggest that hemichordates have undergone degeneration in the precision of asymmetry from an ancestral asymmetrical condition that existed before the divergence of deuterostomes.
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    Developmental dynamics : an official publication of the American Association of Anatomists
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It is suggested that data from clinical syndromes, cryptic asymmetries, and bilateral gynandromorphs, while not figuring prominently in the mainstream work on LR asymmetry, point to crucial and fundamental gaps of knowledge about asymmetry.
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