Unnatural Selection [electronic resource] : How We Are Changing Life, Gene by Gene /
Monosson, Emily.author.
Gonorrhea. Bed bugs. Weeds. Salamanders. People. All are evolving, some surprisingly rapidly, in response to our chemical age. In Unnatural Selection, Emily Monosson shows how our drugs, pesticides, and pollution are exerting intense selection pressure on all manner of species. And we humans might not like the result. Monosson reveals that the very code of life is more fluid than once imagined. When our powerful chemicals put the pressure on to evolve or die, beneficial traits can sweep rapidly through a population. Species with explosive population growth—the bugs, bacteria, and weeds—tend to thrive, while bigger, slower-to-reproduce creatures, like ourselves, are more likely to succumb. Unnatural Selection is eye-opening and more than a little disquieting. But it also suggests how we might lessen our impact: manage pests without creating super bugs; protect individuals from disease without inviting epidemics; and benefit from technology without threatening the health of our children.
Cover; Title Page; Copyright; Contents; Acknowledgments; INTRODUCTION: Life-Changing Chemicals; PART I: Unnatural Selection in a Natural World; CHAPTER 1: Discovery: Antibiotics and the Rise of the Superbug; Discovery; Target Practice; Penicillin; Resistance!; Unveiling the Machinations of Evolution; The Bigger Picture; CHAPTER 2: Prevention: Searching for a Universal Vaccine; Flu in View; Evolving Rapidly; In Our Defense; Vaccination Nation; One Vaccine to Rule Them All; CHAPTER 3: Treatment: Beyond Chemotherapy; The Seeds of Cancer; Mortal Combat; Resistance Rising; Bad Blood
Taking the Evolutionary RoadCHAPTER 4: Defiance: Rounding Up Resistance; A Weed by Any Other Name; The Herbicide Roundup; Evolution Not; There Must Be Some Way Out of Here . . .; CHAPTER 5: Resurgence: Bedbugs Bite Back; Sleep Tight, Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite; "A Miraculous Insecticide"; Return of the Bedbug; Biting Back?; PART I I: Natural Selection in an Unnatural World; CHAPTER 6: Release: Toxics in the Wild; Industrial Evolution; Bringing Better Things to Life?; Millions of Miles to Travel; The Cost of Survival?; The Selfish Trait?; Survivor: Planet Earth!
CHAPTER 7: Evolution: It's Humanly PossibleSubjects of Evolution?; Not So Fast; In a Blink; Why Not Let Nature Take Her Course?; PART I I I: Beyond Selection; CHAPTER 8: Epigenetics: Epilogue or Prologue?; Epigenetic Generation; Life under the (Environmental) Influence?; Sperm Tales; A Revolution in Evolution, or Just Another Day in the Life of DNA?; Notes; Index
Includes index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Gonorrhea. Bed bugs. Weeds. Salamanders. People. All are evolving, some surprisingly rapidly, in response to our chemical age. In Unnatural Selection, Emily Monosson shows how our drugs, pesticides, and pollution are exerting intense selection pressure on all manner of species. And we humans might not like the result. Monosson reveals that the very code of life is more fluid than once imagined. When our powerful chemicals put the pressure on to evolve or die, beneficial traits can sweep rapidly through a population. Species with explosive population growth—the bugs, bacteria, and weeds—tend to thrive, while bigger, slower-to-reproduce creatures, like ourselves, are more likely to succumb. Unnatural Selection is eye-opening and more than a little disquieting. But it also suggests how we might lessen our impact: manage pests without creating super bugs; protect individuals from disease without inviting epidemics; and benefit from technology without threatening the health of our children.
Adaptation (Biology)
Environment, general.