Darwin in the Genome: Strategies in Biological Evolution

Darwin in the Genome: Strategies in Biological Evolution
ISBN-10
1494211084
ISBN-13
9781494211080
Category
Science
Pages
256
Language
English
Published
2014-01-21
Publisher
CreateSpace
Authors
Ph.D., Lynn Helena Caporale

Description

Adam Wilkins' review in BioEssays, places Darwin in the Genome in the tradition of “The best popular science books [which] do more than simply present a complex scientific subject in clear, informative and interesting ways to the general reader. They also offer a new thesis or perspective, one that will engage the interest of specialists in the subject as well as non-experts….If it succeeds in provoking discussion about a critical idea, the book's impact and usefulness will go considerably beyond that of the average good … book.” [Dr. Caporale] points to evidence that “survival of the fittest” is widely misunderstood, for research reveals of the importance of diversity and cooperation for survival. “We share with each other, no less than with the majesty of the redwoods and the doves, the fact that each of us is a unique creation of the barely tapped potential immanent in the first genomes on Earth.” --- from the PrologueWhen Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species, no understood how traits passed from parent to child. No one used the word “gene.” Nearly a century later, the Avery lab found, much to everyone's surprise including their own, that DNA carries genetic information. A decade after Avery, the double helical model for DNA suggested how information could be transmitted from one generation to the next. Now we have seen the complete DNA sequences of many thousands of genomes. What has this taught us about evolution?In Darwin in the Genome, molecular biologist Lynn Helena Caporale goes beyond simple description of new information. In a book much like Darwin's Origin itself, written for both scientists and non-scientists, carefully referenced while presenting groundbreaking insights into evolution, Dr. Caporale argues that just like beaks and wings, the generation of mutations feels the pressure of natural selection.In addition, Darwin in the Genome devotes several chapters to implications for understanding, and fighting against, infectious disease and cancer. For those who can't conceive of how “random” mutation could create complicated and well-adapted life, Dr. Caporale shows that mutation is NOT evenly distributed across a genome and that, from pathogens to our own immune system, life-preserving creative mutations can become much more likely than random destructive mutations. Darwin in the Genome presents a compelling case that from generation to generation selection inevitably incorporates a “world view' into the mechanisms that generate genome variation, and that the most intriguing aspect of mutation is not that it is “random” but that across time some classes of mutation become more likely, contributing to survival. In other words, the ability to evolve itself evolves.

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