Genetic All books
Paul Rabinow
French DNA: Trouble in Purgatory
This book offers some surprising viewpoints: an anthropologist tells the story of the human genome sequencing project; a scholar of the humanities follows the crisis between a French laboratory, the Centre dÉtude du Polymorphisme Humain (CEPH), and a U.S. rival; an American intellectual describes the politics within the French scientific community. This exceptional survey of the most recent research trends and of the state of international competition in the field of genetic research gives us a notion of how our future health care is being prepared. Paul Rabinow teaches anthropology at the University of California at Berkeley.
Pierre Roubertoux
Existe-t-il des gènes du comportement ?
Recent advances in genetic research have had widespread and far-reaching influences in fields as varied as animal and plant biology and medicine. They have also upset some ethical rules. Genetics today is in a triumphant, seductive phase, but its limits are yet to be defined. In this book, the eminent French geneticist Pierre Roubertoux argues that genetics has strayed too far from its justifiable areas of application. Soon, genetics may even be applied to the mind and to consciousness, just as it is already being applied to behaviour by scientists who contend that each type of conduct has its corresponding gene (this is tantamount to saying a specific gene is responsible for each virtue and each vice). Scientists who defend this theory say that they have discovered genes linked to various degrees of activity in mice and flies. Thus, intemperance and gluttony would be linked to a genetic partiality to alcohol, sugar or fats. Pride could be explained by a gene for dominance which has allegedly been found in mice. Greed, too, could be explained by a gene. The supposed existence of an infidelity gene was much in the news three years ago. This is a sound scientific synthesis which will enable readers to grasp the contribution of genetics to our comprehension of who and what we are. It should also help them resist the temptation of reducing everything to genetics. Pierre Roubertoux is a professor at the University of Aix-Marseille and a research fellow at the Institute of Physiological and Cognitive Neuroscience at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).
Nicole Le Douarin
Dreams, Clones and Genes
This book affirms that we are at the dawn of a new type of medicine which will no longer be concerned only with palliative measures and repairs, but will also be capable of regenerating diseased tissues via the introduction of embryonic cells. This major upheaval will oblige us to reconsider the meaning of the individual and of life itself. Nicole Ledouarin teaches at the Collège de France.
Bernard Sablonnière
DNA, a History of Our Differences
A stimulating look at the current state of knowledge about the genetic determinants of differences between individuals, regarding both the body and character or behavior traits.
Israel Rosenfield, Edward Ziff, Borin Van Loon
DNA for Beginners
The amazing story of DNA is recounted here in an entertaining comic-book form...
James Watson
DNA The Secret of Life
Fifty years ago, when he was only 24, James Watson contributed to cracking the genetic code and thus helped resolve one of the greatest scientific mysteries of our age. In DNA: The Secret of Life, he goes back in time and offers an overall view of the genetic revolution. He gives us the keys to understanding the molecular foundations of life and shows to what extent our knowledge of genetics affects how we regard our origins and our own identity. Drawing on his long experience at the forefront of genetic research, he examines the brave new world that lies before us all and the consequences of the genetic revolution. James D. Watson is best known as the co-discoverer, with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins, of the molecular structure of DNA. For this accomplishment, the three men shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. In 1968, he was appointed director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, on Long Island, New York, and has served as its president since 1994. Andrew Berry is a junior fellow at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University
Edward O. Wilson
The Diversity of Life
What are the mechanics of evolution? What is the force behind diversity and the proliferation of the species? Why does nature never stop inventing new forms of life? What is the effect of great catastrophes on the evolution of the species? What is the real effect of human action on nature? A professor at Harvard University, Edward O. Wilson is one of the most important theoricians of biological evolution. He is also one of the most ardent lobbyists for the preservation of nature.