title: Defining "Development".
abstract: Is it possible, and in the first place is it even desirable, to define what "development" means and to determine the scope of the field called "developmental biology"? Though these questions appeared crucial for the founders of "developmental biology" in the 1950s, there seems to be no consensus today about the need to address them. Here, in a combined biological, philosophical, and historical approach, we ask whether it is possible and useful to define biological development, and, if such a definition is indeed possible and useful, which definition(s) can be considered as the most satisfactory.
authors.affiliation: ALYSAI, CNRS, UMR5164, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: thomas.pradeu@u-bordeaux.fr.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pradeu
authors.affiliation: UMR 8590 (CNRS, IHPST-Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, ENS), Paris, France.
authors.forename: Lucie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laplane
authors.affiliation: Université Paris Ouest Nanterre-La Défense, Ireph, Nanterre Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Karine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Prévot
authors.affiliation: Faculté de philosophie, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Lyon Cedex 02, France.
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoquet
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherches Philosophiques de Lyon (IRPhiL), Centre de la recherche Eugène Chevreul, Lyon, France.
authors.forename: Valentine
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reynaud
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minelli
authors.affiliation: Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, UMR 7592, Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France. Electronic address: orgogozo@ijm.univ-paris-diderot.fr.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Orgogozo
authors.affiliation: Institut Jacques Monod, CNRS, UMR 7592, Univ Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vervoort
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D015509:Developmental Biology; D006801:Humans
keywords: Definition; Development; Developmental biology; Embryology; Scientific discipline