Download or read book Lamarck s Revenge written by Peter Ward and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting explanation of epigenetics, offering startling insights into our inheritable traits. In the 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described epigenetics to explain the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, his theory was supplanted in the 1800s by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection through heritable genetic mutations. But natural selection could not adequately explain how rapidly species re-diversified and repopulated after mass extinctions. Now advances in the study of DNA and RNA have resurrected epigenetics, which can create radical physical and physiological changes in subsequent generations by the simple addition of a single small molecule, thus passing along a propensity for molecules to attach in the same places in the next generation. Epigenetics is a complex process, but paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward breaks it down for general readers, using the epigenetic paradigm to reexamine how the history of our species-from deep time to the outbreak of the Black Plague and into the present-has left its mark on our physiology, behavior, and intelligence. Most alarming are chapters about epigenetic changes we are undergoing now triggered by toxins, environmental pollutants, famine, poor nutrition, and overexposure to violence. Lamarck's Revenge is an eye-opening and provocative exploration of how traits are inherited, and how outside influences drive what we pass along to our progeny.
Download or read book The Epigenetics Revolution written by Nessa Carey and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 2012-03-06 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth. It explains why mapping an organism's genetic code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Surveying the twenty-year history of the field while also highlighting its latest findings and innovations, this volume provides a readily understandable introduction to the foundations of epigenetics. Nessa Carey, a leading epigenetics researcher, connects the field's arguments to such diverse phenomena as how ants and queen bees control their colonies; why tortoiseshell cats are always female; why some plants need cold weather before they can flower; and how our bodies age and develop disease. Reaching beyond biology, epigenetics now informs work on drug addiction, the long-term effects of famine, and the physical and psychological consequences of childhood trauma. Carey concludes with a discussion of the future directions for this research and its ability to improve human health and well-being.
Download or read book Evolutionary Genetics written by Glenn-Peter Sætre and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 327 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With recent technological advances, vast quantities of genetic and genomic data are being generated at an ever-increasing pace. The explosion in access to data has transformed the field of evolutionary genetics. A thorough understanding of evolutionary principles is essential for making sense of this, but new skill sets are also needed to handle and analyze big data. This contemporary textbook covers all the major components of modern evolutionary genetics, carefully explaining fundamental processes such as mutation, natural selection, genetic drift, and speciation. It also draws on a rich literature of exciting and inspiring examples to demonstrate the diversity of evolutionary research, including an emphasis on how evolution and selection has shaped our own species. Practical experience is essential for developing an understanding of how to use genetic and genomic data to analyze and interpret results in meaningful ways. In addition to the main text, a series of online tutorials using the R language serves as an introduction to programming, statistics, and analysis. Indeed the R environment stands out as an ideal all-purpose source platform to handle and analyze such data. The book and its online materials take full advantage of the authors' own experience in working in a post-genomic revolution world, and introduces readers to the plethora of molecular and analytical methods that have only recently become available. Evolutionary Genetics is an advanced but accessible textbook aimed principally at students of various levels (from undergraduate to postgraduate) but also for researchers looking for an updated introduction to modern evolutionary biology and genetics.
Download or read book 30 Second Genetics written by Jonathan Weitzman and published by Ivy Press. This book was released on 2020-04-07 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This whistlestop guide teaches you everything you need to know about the fascinating science of genetics! Genetics is the study of heredity, and reveals how the characteristics of living organisms are determined by the genes passed down the generations. In humans, it can determine how we think,who we are, and how long we live. The human genome was mapped in 2003, and this enhanced ability to study our genes is transforming medicine, from CRISPR, the gene editing technology that allows us to alter the course of hereditary disease, to using genetics to identify the types of bacteria that populate our bodies. Stripping the subject to its bare necessities,30-Second Genetics charts the most extraordinary discoveries, from the fundamentals of cell biology to the almost unbelievable advances in DNA sequencing and stem cell technology. Each subject, concept or term is explored in a mere 30 seconds, 300 words, and one image, making this the perfect book to understand the field of genetics at lightening speed! Authors (and identical twin brothers) Jonathan and Matthew Weitzman are both expert professors in the field, and they write with clarity, exploring these complicated terms in easy to understand language. From advances in stem cell therapy to animal cloning, genetically modified crops and genetically tailored treatments, the Weitzman brothers demystify this essential science which is shaping our future, today!
Download or read book Mendel s Legacy written by Elof Axel Carlson and published by CSHL Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest book by Elof Carlson (The Unfit) is a first history of classical genetics, the era in which the chromosome theory of heredity was proposed and developed. Highly illustrated and based heavily on early 20th century original sources, the book traces the roots of genetics in breeding analysis and studies of cytology, evolution, and reproductive biology that began in Europe but were synthesized in the United States through new Ph.D. programs and expanded academic funding. Carlson argues that, influenced largely by new technologies and instrumentation, the life sciences progressed though incremental change rather than paradigm shifts, and he describes how molecular biology emerged from the key ideas and model systems of classical genetics. Readable and original, this narrative will interest historians and science educators as well as today's practitioners of genetics.
Download or read book Ending the Mendel Fisher Controversy written by Allan Franklin and published by University of Pittsburgh Pre. This book was released on 2008-03-15 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1865, Gregor Mendel presented "Experiments in Plant-Hybridization," the results of his eight-year study of the principles of inheritance through experimentation with pea plants. Overlooked in its day, Mendel's work would later become the foundation of modern genetics. Did his pioneering research follow the rigors of real scientific inquiry, or was Mendel's data too good to be true—the product of doctored statistics? In Ending the Mendel-Fisher Controversy, leading experts present their conclusions on the legendary controversy surrounding the challenge to Mendel's findings by British statistician and biologist R. A. Fisher. In his 1936 paper "Has Mendel's Work Been Rediscovered?" Fisher suggested that Mendel's data could have been falsified in order to support his expectations. Fisher attributed the falsification to an unknown assistant of Mendel's. At the time, Fisher's criticism did not receive wide attention. Yet beginning in 1964, about the time of the centenary of Mendel's paper, scholars began to publicly discuss whether Fisher had successfully proven that Mendel's data was falsified. Since that time, numerous articles, letters, and comments have been published on the controversy.This self-contained volume includes everything the reader will need to know about the subject: an overview of the controversy; the original papers of Mendel and Fisher; four of the most important papers on the debate; and new updates, by the authors, of the latter four papers. Taken together, the authors contend, these voices argue for an end to the controversy-making this book the definitive last word on the subject.
Download or read book Extended Heredity written by Russell Bonduriansky and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Bonduriansky and Day challenge the premise that genes alone mediate the transmission of biological information across generations and provide the raw material for natural selection. They explore the latest research showing that what happens during our lifetimes--and even our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes--can influence the features of our descendants. Based on this evidence, Bonduriansky and Day develop an extended concept of heredity that upends ideas about how traits can and cannot be transmitted across generations, opening the door to a new understanding of inheritance, evolution, and even human health. --Adapted from publisher description.
Download or read book Modern Prometheus written by Jim Kozubek and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2016-10-18 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book tells the dramatic story of Crispr and the potential impact of this gene-editing technology.
Download or read book A Life Decoded written by J. Craig Venter and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-10-18 with total page 424 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The triumphant memoir of the man behind one of the greatest feats in scientific history Of all the scientific achievements of the past century, perhaps none can match the deciphering of the human genetic code, both for its technical brilliance and for its implications for our future. In A Life Decoded, J. Craig Venter traces his rise from an uninspired student to one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in science today. Here, Venter relates the unparalleled drama of the quest to decode the human genome?a goal he predicted he could achieve years earlier and more cheaply than the government-sponsored Human Genome Project, and one that he fulfilled in 2001. A thrilling story of detection, A Life Decoded is also a revealing, and often troubling, look at how science is practiced today.
Download or read book Gorgon written by Peter Douglas Ward and published by Penguin (Non-Classics). This book was released on 2005 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on more than a decade's research in South Africa's Karoo Desert, this remarkable journey of discovery and real-life adventure deep into Earth's history is offered by a renowned scientist. Photo insert.
Download or read book A Primer of Molecular Population Genetics written by Asher D. Cutter and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What are the genomic signatures of adaptations in DNA? How often does natural selection dictate changes to DNA? How does the ebb and flow in the abundance of individuals over time get marked onto chromosomes to record genetic history? Molecular population genetics seeks to answer such questions by explaining genetic variation and molecular evolution from micro-evolutionary principles. It provides a way to learn about how evolution works and how it shapes species by incorporating molecular details of DNA as the heritable material. It enables us to understand the logic of how mutations originate, change in abundance in populations, and become fixed as DNA sequence divergence between species. With the revolutionary advances in genomic data acquisition, understanding molecular population genetics is now a fundamental requirement for today's life scientists. These concepts apply in analysis of personal genomics, genome-wide association studies, landscape and conservation genetics, forensics, molecular anthropology, and selection scans. This book introduces, in an accessible way, the bare essentials of the theory and practice of molecular population genetics.
Download or read book Coming To Life written by Volhard Christiane Nusslein and published by Kales Press. This book was released on 2006-04-11 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, winner of The Nobel Prize in Medicine, gives a concise and illustrative overview of genetics, evolution, and cellular processes as well as a discussing of current ethical issues in human biology. Coming to Life is a remarkable journey through developmental biology that reveals miraculous processes in the microscopic world of cells. Through an accounting of groundbreaking discoveries, Christiane Nusslein-Volhard tells us many answers to historical and contemporary questions in science. For example, she brings us the newest knowledge about embryonic forms, explains the genetic mechanisms that influence adult development of all animals, and shares insights into the ethical standards society moist uphold in the face of new scientific discoveries. As the author leads us from laboratory research to its applications in human beings, we also come to understand why children look like their parents, how an embryonic cell knows to become an eye rather than an eyelash, and other incredible influences hat result in variety in life. Complete with her own hand-drawn illustrations, Coming to Life gives a rare opportunity to understand a Nobel Prize-winner's passion for science in concise, understandable language. 55 b/w illustrations.
Download or read book Designer Evolution written by Simon Young and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2009-09-25 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Forewords by Dr. Aubrey de Grey (Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge) and Robert A. Freitas Jr. (Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing) "A rare and uplifting vision of the biological future we can and should create for ourselves." – Dr. Gregory Fahy, Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President, 21st Century Medicine The debate about the ethics of human biotechnology or genetic engineering is one of the most important cultural issues of our time. "Transhumanism" is the philosophy that most of all supports genetic science and biotechnology, yet the public knows little about this emerging philosophy. Transhumanism declares unequivocal support for the attempt to eliminate disease, defeat death, and enhance the body and mind beyond the limitations of the age-old human condition. In Designer Evolution Simon Young presents a polemical espousal of transhumanist philosophy and a trenchant attack on its critics, the "Bio-Luddites." The author calls for a rejection of premodern superstition and postmodern nihilism in favor of a renewed belief in human progress through scientific rationality. In an age when cynicism, fatalism, and nihilism are rife, Designer Evolution will rekindle a feeling of optimism about the future of our species. This is a concise, reader-friendly introduction to a vitally important philosophy that will become difficult to ignore as advances in biotechnology increasingly claim the headlines in the coming decades.
Download or read book A Crack in Creation written by Jennifer Doudna and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2018-06-14 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A handful of discoveries have changed the course of human history. This book is about the most recent and potentially the most powerful and dangerous of them all. It is an invention that allows us to rewrite the genetic code that shapes and controls all living beings with astonishing accuracy and ease. Thanks to it, the dreams of genetic manipulation have become a stark reality: the power to cure disease and alleviate suffering, to create new sources of food and energy, as well as to re-design any species, including humans, for our own ends. Jennifer Doudna is the co-inventor of this technology - known as CRISPR - and a scientist of worldwide renown. Writing with fellow researcher Samuel Sternberg, here she provides the definitive account of her discovery, explaining how this wondrous invention works and what it is capable of. She also asks us to consider what our new-found power means: how do we enjoy its unprecedented benefits while avoiding its equally unprecedented dangers? The future of humankind - and of all life on Earth - is at stake. This book is an essential guide to the path that now lies ahead.
Download or read book Gregor Mendel Planting the Seeds of Genetics written by Simon Mawer and published by . This book was released on 2006-09 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gregor Mendel's discoveries were so far in advance of their day that it wasn't until 50 years had passed that their importance was recognised by the scientific community. Providing an account of scientific history, this work presents the narrative through the work of the life-scientists who built their own research on Mendel's discoveries.
Download or read book Genetics in Minutes written by Tom Jackson and published by Hachette UK. This book was released on 2016-05-19 with total page 701 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genetics in Minutes is your compact and accessible guide to the central concepts of the science of genetics, revealing how our genes shape our bodies and our lives, and how in turn we are beginning to shape them. Covering the basics of DNA, inheritance and evolution in animals, plants and humans alike - from the origins and development of life to the Human Genome and designer babies - this is the fastest, fullest path to understanding genetics. Contents include Genes, DNA, Natural selection, Darwinism, Stem cell and gene therapies, Evo-devo, Epigenetics, Cloning, Genetic engineering and Artificial life, as well as biology basics such as the Processes of life, Cells, Sex, Classification and Ecology.
Download or read book Molecular Population Genetics written by Matthew William Hahn and published by Sinauer Associates, Incorporated. This book was released on 2018 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published by Sinauer Associates, an imprint of Oxford University Press. Provides descriptions of the methods and tools used in molecular population genetics, which has combined advances in molecular biology and genomics with mathematical and empirical findings to uncover the history of natural selection and demographic shifts in many organisms.
