The Mysterious World of the Human Genome

Erscheinungsjahr 2016
ISBN: 978-0-00-754908-5
Verlag: HarperCollins Publishers

Buch, Englisch, 352 Seiten, Format (B × H): 131 mm x 198 mm, Gewicht: 250 g

How could a relatively simple chemical code give rise to the complexity of a human being? How could our human genome have evolved? And how does it actually work? Over the past 50 years we have deciphered the inner workings of the human genome. From the basic structure of DNA through to the complete sequence of the code, what first appeared to be simple is actually a complex and beautiful three-dimensional world that makes each of us who we are. In The Mysterious World of the Human Genome acclaimed science writer Frank Ryan leads us through the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last 50 years, revealing how this science has unlocked the cure of some genetic diseases, developed the use of DNA in forensic science and paternity testing, helped us trace our ancestors and provided a definitive map for the movement of humans out of Africa. This scientific journey has had a profound impact on our understanding of the evolution of life itself, through the role of the most ancient of organisms in our basic biology all the way to the revelation that our most recent ancestor, Homo neanderthalensis, lives on in many of us. In the ever more complicated world of the human genome, this is the first book to explain how the human genome actually works as a whole and how that knowledge will have a profound effect on our understanding of where we have come from and where we are likely to be going in the future.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ryan, Frank

Über Autor(innen)

Frank Ryan ist Arzt und Evolutionsbiologe. Nach 23 Jahren in der medizinischen Praxis, Forschung und Lehre widmet er sich heute vor allem biowissenschaftlichen und evolutionsbiologischen Fragestellungen in Bezug auf den Menschen und stellt diese Themen in Büchern und Vorträgen einer breiteren Öffentlichkeit vor. Ryan hat entscheidenden Anteil an der neuen Sichtweise von Viren als Symbionten und wendet die Konzepte der "aggressiven Symbiose" und der "genomischen Kreativität" auf die menschliche Evolution an. Im Rahmen seiner Forschung am Department of Animal and Plant Sciences der Sheffield University versucht er, moderne evolutionäre Ansätze in die Humanmedizin einzubringen. Er hat mehrere erfolgreiche Sachbücher verfasst.

Originally qualified as a doctor, Frank Ryan is now one of the pioneers of the role of viruses in evolution. He was recently made Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffiled, with the express purpose of developing his evolutionary concepts and helping to translate evolutionary science into medicine. He is the author of four general books, including a New York Times NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR (Tuberculosis).