Chapter 6: The Best-Laid (Body) Plans

This chapter once again reiterated how connected all organisms are.

I found the images provided in this chapter more helpful than those in the previous chapters. They cleared any doubts I had about the text and helped me better understand some concepts I didn't at first fully understand.

Of all of the experiments Shubin explained, I found Hilde Mangold's the most interesting. She cut a tiny piece of tissue from one embryo and transplanted it onto the embryo of an entirely different species. This piece of tissue, known as the Organizer, resulted in twins. First of all, I never would have thought that the mere manipulation of a small piece of tissue could result in the formation of an entire body plan. I also found the results surprising because Mangold used one species' Organizer for another.

Looking from the title, I was pretty sure Shubin would expalin how various organisms were similar through their body structures. However, I never expected him to compare something as basic as a sea anemone to something as complex as a human. I think Shubin put it well when he said, "All animals are the same but different. Like a cake recipe passed down from generation to generation [...] the recipe that builds our bodies has been passed down, and modified, for eons" (115).

- Aarti Kumar