Anatomy Of Human

At the beginning of this century enormous progress had been made in genetics. The Human Genome Project finished sequencing human DNA. It seemed it was only a matter of time until we had all the answers to the secrets of life on this planet. The cutting-edge of biology, however, is telling us that we still dont even know all of the questions. How is it that, despite each cell in your body carrying exactly the same DNA, you dont have teeth growing out of your eyeballs or toenails on your liver? How is it that identical twins share exactly the same DNA and yet can exhibit dramatic differences in the way that they live and grow? It turns out that cells read the genetic code in DNA more like a script to be interpreted than a mould that replicates the same result each time. This is epigenetics and its the fastest-moving field in biology today. The Epigenetics Revolution traces the thrilling path this discipline has taken over the last twenty years. Biologist Nessa Carey deftly explains such diverse phenomena as how queen bees and ants control their colonies, why tortoiseshell cats are always female, why some plants need a period of cold before they can flower, why we age, develop disease and become addicted to drugs, and much more. Most excitingly, Carey reveals the amazing possibilities for humankind that epigenetics offers for us all - and in the surprisingly near future.

• File Size: 2798 KB
• Print Length: 320 pages
• Publisher: Icon Books Ltd (September 1, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00JFVOLZK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray:
  Not Enabled
• Lending: Not Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #64,331 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Medical eBooks > Basic Science > Genetics
  • #16 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
  • #42 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Evolution

This is one of those books that introduces an entirely new and fascinating topic. A similar work would be Chaos: Making a New Science which introduced the concepts of chaotic dynamical systems at a time when even many practitioners of the sciences would not have heard of it.

Similarly, this book introduces the discoveries in epigenetics (epi- meaning "on", or a layer on top of classical genetics) and pretty much all of this will be new information unless you have been actively working in the field of cell biology over the past few years.

The book talks about the paradigm shift that is occurring as cell biologists are realizing that this epigenetic information is as complex and important to the correct function of life as the underlying DNA genome, and even allows for Lamarckian inheritance in certain cases where an offsprings own epigenetic information and phenotype can be influenced by that of the parents, meaning that some environmental effects in a parents life can directly influence future generations.

Also much of the non-protein-coding genome that for many years was considered to be unimportant "junk" is now turning out to be very important as it can be transcribed into functional RNA molecules that perform important functions. The book contains a simple graphic showing that the ratio of the non-protein-coding DNA to that of traditional protein coding genes increases in direct proportion with the complexity of the organism. The fundamental genes and proteins between say a chimpanzee and a human are virtually identical and it now begins to look as though its that "junk" DNA that makes all the difference.

This is a fascinating look at recent developments in the ever-accelerating biological revolution and I highly recommend it to everyone who yearns to understand how life works.

G.

By Gavin Scott

Word of warning - I may gush! Im no biologist, but Nessa Carey manages to make epigenetics clear and incredibly interesting to me. This is not an easy read, in that it requires one to think and occasionally to do a little mental gymnastics to get ones head around the concepts she introduces, but nevertheless its the kind of book that can be gulped down in large servings because Carey is skilled at explaining these high-falutin concepts so well.

The topics range from inherited traits to cloning and back again, and I found even the descriptions of how certain experiments were undertaken were such that they read incredibly well. This is a book that could havebeen dry as dust, but its not.

I think probably one where the time taken to read the sample is well spent - Im sure some people just wont find this that interesting - but if you are at all interested in science, biology, DNA, and the mystery of how things are and arent passed on, then this is a must read. Absorbing, educational, and downright fascinating. Brilliant.

By tiggrie AKA Sarah