The book is an impressive journey into the biology of development and reveals remarkable processes in the microscopic world of cells.

Narrating unprecedented discoveries, Nobel laureate Christiane Nusslein-Volhard provides answers to many historical and contemporary questions in science.

It offers the most modern, established knowledge regarding the forms of embryos; explains the genetic mechanisms that influence the development of animals; presents the ethical standards that a modern society should endorse in light of new discoveries from stem cell research, cloning, and gene therapies; and expresses her objections to the utopia of creating humans from humans and designing children on demand.

The book includes 55 sketches by the author, providing the reader with the opportunity to better understand her substantial discourse.