num_pages: 224
description: Called "provocative," "magnificent," and "lucid" by critics, SIGNS OF LIFE presents a fresh and engaging look at nature's most wondrous chemical. DNA, biologist Robert Pollack suggests, should be seen as a work of great natural literature, a three-billion-year-old, continuously evolving text. Displaying a rare gift for metaphor, Pollack draws on his thirty years of research and study to show how DNA provides a complete instruction book for all living things. Until recently, the book has been indecipherable, but we are now beginning to read and edit this text in ways that will transform all our lives. Yet the power to change the human genome brings with it enormous responsibilities, and Pollack argues that if we fail to achieve a fuller understanding of the multiple meanings of DNA, we risk disaster. With the grace of a born writer and teacher, Pollack has written a book that will change the way people think about science, literature, and the future of our species.
language: English
title: Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA
titlecomplete: Signs of Life: The Language and Meanings of DNA
genres: Science, Genetics, Biology
ratings_count: 9
awards: awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Lionel Trilling Book Award
publisher: Mariner Books