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The Genetic Gods
They mastermind our lives, shaping our features, our health, and our behavior, even in the sacrosanct realms of love and sex, religion, aging, and death. Yet we are the ones who house, perpetuate, and give the promise of immortality to these biological agents, our genetic gods. The link between genes and gods is hardly arbitrary, as the distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise reveals in this compelling book. In clear, straightforward terms, Avise reviews recent discoveries in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, and human genetic engineering, and discusses the relevance of these findings to issues of ultimate concern traditionally reserved for mythology, theology, and religious faith.
The book explains how the genetic gods figure in our development--not just our metabolism and physiology, but even our emotional disposition, personality, ethical leanings, and, indeed, religiosity. Yet genes are physical rather than metaphysical entities. Having arisen via an amoral evolutionary process--natural selection--genes have no consciousness, no sentient code of conduct, no reflective concern about the consequences of their actions. It is Avise's contention that current genetic knowledge can inform our attempts to answer typically religious questions--about origins, fate, and meaning. The Genetic Gods challenges us to make the necessary connection between what we know, what we believe, and what we embody.
eBook
The Genomics Age
Entertaining, informative, and written in plain English by a world-class science and technology journalist, \"The Genomics Age\" explores how recent leaps in the understanding of DNA offer astounding scientific promises, and pose complex ethical issues. It covers all areas of our lives that might change, and subjects that are hot and frequently in the news, such as anti-aging and longevity, stem cell research, \"designer\" babies, and of course the social, moral and ethical questions that accompany these subjects.
eBook
Genetics for dummies
A plain-English guide to genetics Want to know more about genetics? This non-intimidating guidegets you up to speed on all the fundamentals and the most recentdiscoveries. Now with 25% new and revised material, Genetics ForDummies, 2nd Edition gives you clear and accessible coverage ofthis rapidly advancing field. From dominant and recessive inherited traits to the DNAdouble-helix, you get clear explanations in easy-to-understandterms. Plus, you'll see how people are applying genetic science tofight disease, develop new products, solve crimes . . . and evenclone cats. Covers topics in a straightforward and effective mannerIncludes coverage of stem cell research, molecular genetics,behavioral genetics, genetic engineering, and moreExplores ethical issues as they pertain to the study ofgenetics Whether you?re currently enrolled in a genetics course or arejust looking for a refresher, Genetics For Dummies, 2ndEdition provides science lovers of all skill levels witheasy-to-follow information on this fascinating subject.
eBook
The secret life of genes : decoding the blueprint of life
\"The Secret Life of Genes is the story of genetic science and how it makes each of us unique. It spans the discovery of the gene and the all-encompassing role it plays in biology: from controlling the inner workings of cells and the development of embryos, through patterns of inheritance, to the evolution of new forms of life. From there developed the vast and boundless field of genetic science and research.\"-- From publisher's website.
Book
The genetic gods : evolution and belief in human affairs
Distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise reviews recent discoveries in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, and human genetic engineering, and explains how they relate to our development--not just our metabolism and physiology, but also our emotional disposition, personality, ethical leanings, and, indeed, religiosity.
eBook
Not a chimp : the hunt to find the genes that make us human
Humans are primates, and our closest relatives are the other African apes - chimpanzees closest of all. With the mapping of the human genome, and that of the chimp, a direct comparison of the differences between the two, letter by letter along the billions of As, Gs, Cs, and Ts of the DNA code, has led to the widely vaunted claim that we differ from chimps by a mere 1.6% of our genetic code. A mere hair's breadth genetically! To a rather older tradition of anthropomorphizing chimps, trying to get them to speak, dressing them up for 'tea parties', was added the stamp of genetic confirmation. It also began an international race to find that handful of genes that make up the difference - the genes that make us uniquely human. But what does that 1.6% really mean? And should it really lead us to consider extending limited human rights to chimps, as some have suggested? Are we, after all, just chimps with a few genetic tweaks? Is our language and our technology just an extension of the grunts and ant-collecting sticks of chimps? In this book, Jeremy Taylor sketches the picture that is emerging from cutting edge research in genetics, animal behaviour, and other fields. The indications are that the so-called 1.6% is much larger and leads to profound differences between the two species. We shared a common ancestor with chimps some 6-7 million years ago, but we humans have been racing away ever since. One in ten of our genes, says Taylor, has undergone evolution in the past 40,000 years! Some of the changes that happened since we split from chimpanzees are to genes that control the way whole orchestras of other genes are switched on and off, and where. Taylor shows, using studies of certain genes now associated with speech and with brain development and activity, that the story looks to be much more complicated than we first thought. This rapidly changing and exciting field has recently discovered a host of genetic mechanisms that make us different from other apes. As Taylor points out, for too long we have let our sentimentality for chimps get in the way of our understanding. Chimps use tools, but so do crows. Certainly chimps are our closest genetic relatives. But relatively small differences in genetic code can lead to profound differences in cognition and behaviour. Our abilities give us the responsibility to protect and preserve the natural world, including endangered primates. But for the purposes of human society and human concepts such as rights, let's not pretend that chimps are humans uneducated and undressed. We've changed a lot in those 12 million years.
eBook