DNA
Subtitle: a graphic guide to the molecule that shook the world
By: Israel Rosenfield, Edward Ziff, and Borin Van Loon
Contributors: Ziff, Edward; Van Loon, Borin, 1951-
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 257
ISBN-13: 9780231142700; 9780231142717; 9780231512312
Description: With humor, depth, and philosophical and historical insight, this book features a graphic portrayal of a complicated science. This volume covers DNA's many marvels, from its original discovery in 1869 to early twentieth-century debates on the mechanisms of inheritance and the deeper nature of life's evolution and variety. The book elucidates DNA's relationship to health and the cause and cure of disease. It also covers the creation of new life forms, nanomachines, and perspectives on crime detection, and considers the philosophical sources of classical Darwinian theory and recent, radical changes in the understanding of evolution itself. Already these developments have profoundly affected our notions about living things. Illustrations recount the contributions of Gregor Mendel, Frederick Griffith, James Watson, and Francis Crick, among other biologists, scientists, and researchers, and depict the modern controversies surrounding the Human Genome Project and cloning.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: A brief history of genetics; title: What is DNA; title: The new biology; title: DNA replication; title: What information is stored in a gene?; title: Where did the notion of messenger RNA come from?; title: Transcription; title: Translation; title: Genetic code; title: Pajamo and the operon; title: The diversity of gene expression; title: A brief reminder of relative size; title: A brief reminder of genes in humans; title: Prokaryotes versus eukaryotes; title: Restriction enzymes and genetic engineering; title: Cloning and sequencing genes; title: Exons, introns, and splicing; title: Chromatin and histones; title: Gene families; title: Controlling genes for antibodies; title: Chromosomes; title: Telomeres; title: Imprinting and microRNAs: hidden layers of gene regulation; title: Epigenetics; title: Prions; title: The human genome project; title: The human genome unveiled; title: High throughput sequencing; title: Snps; title: Manipulating the genome; title: Cloning the organism the history; title: From the nucleus of an intestinal cell to a whole frog; title: Making tissues from stem cells; title: Going in the other direction: changing mature cells to stem cells; title: The impact of new genetics on medical research; title: Diagnosis; title: DNA and the judicial system; title: PCR; title: The impact of dna; title: Biotechnology; title: The origin of life; title: Tinkering; title: Selfish genes; title: Evolving evolution sources of Darwinian theory; title: The big gene bet of the last millennium (1999 a.d.); title: The twists and turns of history: the problems with gradualism; title: Watching evolution in action: changes in the stickleback fish; title: DNA and genetics and the changing view of human evolution; title: Human migration; title: Human evolution and the DNA beginnings of vocal expression: birdsong and language.