Jacob's Ladder: the History of the Human Genome.JACOB'S LADDER Jacob's ladder: see phlox. : The History of the Human Genome The human genome is the genome of Homo sapiens, which is composed of 24 distinct pairs of chromosomes (22 autosomal + X + Y) with a total of approximately 3 billion DNA base pairs containing an estimated 20,000–25,000 genes. HENRY GEE Gee, a senior biology editor for Nature, considers how the map of the human genome will be used to help answer some of the biggest questions about life, among them how life got started, how evolution unfolds, and how genetic defects cause disease. Gee provides a primer on the origins of genomic science, tutoring readers on such topics as reproductive biology and biotechnology. Along the way, he traces the historical development of genetics from the prescientific pre·sci·en·tif·ic adj. 1. Of, relating to, or occurring at a time before the advent of modern science and the application of its methods. 2. times of Aristotle through the molecular breakthroughs of James Watson and Francis Crick in the 1950s. Readers become versed in DNA DNA: see nucleic acid. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes. as a molecule and learn how genes interact with one another to create unique individuals. Gee considers how the network of genes in each organism contains a record of all life that came before it over billions of years. He ends the book with a discussion about how we are likely to harness this newfound capacity to manipulate genes and what the ramifications ramifications npl → Auswirkungen pl could be for creating and repairing life. Originally published in the United Kingdom. Norton, 2004, 272 p., hardcover, $25.95. |
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