Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 1.1
SculptureofMendeleevinSaintPetersburg(credit:Wikimedia).
the Origin of Species
, published in 1858. Around this same period
in the mid-19th century Mendel revealed the basic mechanisms
involved in genetic inheritance, while Mendeleev discovered the
periodic table of the chemical elements (Fig. 1.1). Since then the
development of better microscopes and the breeding of short-
lived species, such as fruit flies and bacteria, for research have
led to a growing understanding of replication, development and
the cell cycle. This includes the realisation that other factors apart
from natural selection are involved in biological evolution, and
this expanded view has become known as the synthetic theory of
biologicalevolution.
