Review lecture - The determinants of growth and form

Abstract

An animal can only achieve its full genetic potential if it has lived its life in an ideal environ­ment. Few environments are ideal; they may be unfavourable for numerous reasons and for different lengths of time. Indeed, variations on these themes are almost infinitely possible, but concrete examples will be selected and their effects on the lives of animals and of man demonstrated. Time comes into all this, but its importance and the difference between chronological and biological time have not been properly appreciated. The interactions of time and the environment on the growth of animals and of their organs are complex, but recent work on malnutrition and growth has given us some insight into the matter. Theories that have been formulated are discussed, but none of those yet put forward explain all the facts that can be demonstrated experimentally, and studies that might provide clues have been neglected.