In The Logic of Life François Jacob looks at the way our understanding of biology has changed since the sixteenth century. He describes four fundamental turning points in the perception of the structure of living things: the discoveries of the functions of organs, cells, chromosomes and genes, and DNA.

This book explores changing American views of race mixing in the twentieth century, showing how new scientific ideas transformed accepted notions of race and how those ideas played out on college campuses in the 1960s. In the 1930s, it was not unusual for medical experts to caution against miscegenation, or race mixing, espousing the common opinion that it would produce biologically dysfunctional offspring. By the 1960s the scientific community roundly refuted this theory. The author traces this revolutionary shift in scientific thought, explaining how developments in modern population biology, genetics, and anthropology proved that opposition to race mixing was a social prejudice with no justification in scientific knowledge. In the 1960s, this new knowledge helped to change attitudes towards race and discrimination, especially among college students. Their embrace of social integration caused tension on campuses across the country. Students rebelled against administrative interference in their private lives, and university regulations against interracial dating became a flashpoint in the campus revolts that revolutionized American educational institutions. The author's provocative study is a personal one, featuring interviews with mixed-race couples and stories from the author's student years at the University of Pittsburgh. As such, this book offers a unique perspective on how contentious debates taking place on college campuses reflected shifts in race relations in the larger society. -- from Back Cover

The much heralded "completion" of the human genome project in the year 2000 raises urgent questions: Do we now have a map of who we are? How will we control the uses of the potentially healing but also likely destructive and highly marketable information genetics brings us? Using her own life as well as her research, Barbara Katz Rothman presents an impassioned defense for the theory that humans are not "ready made from the factory", as one recent popular book on genetics put it, but social beings who grow, mature, and learn who they are.

Could an alien organism really survive a centuries-long trip on a meteor and remain virulent enough to attack a human being? How would a scientist know she was peering at a microbe from another planet? What's the possibility of a genetically mutated monster actually developing? In a gripping exploration of the facts behind the science fiction that has enthralled millions of X-philes, Anne Simon -- the respected virologist who comes up with the science for many intriguing episodes -- discusses telomeres, cloning, the Hayflick limit, nanotechnology, endosymbionts, lentiviruses, and other strange phenomena that have challenged the intellect and threatened the lives and sanity of America's favorite FBI agents. With Simon's extraordinary gift for explaining complicated, cutting-edge science in a light, accessible style, and her behind-the-scenes commentary on the development of various plot lines, The Real Science Behind the X-Files will appeal to science buffs and X-Files aficionados alike.

"Compared to the famously fecund rabbit, for whom a single act of coitus has a 90% chance of creating a litter of up to 12 rabbits, humans are very infertile animals. Here in the UK, the average chance of conception is about 18% per month. And in 98% of cases, successful conception leads only to the birth of a single infant. It is unsurprising then that huge efforts have been made to increase our fertility. In vitro fertilisation, first attempted one hundred years ago, has now become big business. Market forces, combined with the desperation of many couples to fulfil their biological imperative, have pushed doctors and scientists closer to the boundaries of what is desirable or ethical. And as we are increasingly able to access and control the embryo, the opportunities of altering human genetics to eradicate disease, but also to change human characteristics, becomes a real, and to some, frightening possibility. A Child Against All Odds is a ground-breaking book for Robert Winston as it falls squarely in his area of expertise. It combines his work at Hammersmith Hospital as one of the country's leading fertility specialists, with a hard-hitting, sometimes humorous, often controve

Few Americans are aware that obesity contributes to 300,000 deaths a year in America. Now medical journalist Michael Fumento--himself a veteran of the diet wars--turns his searing eye to the institutions, corporations, and individuals whose quick-fix weight-loss programs misinform the public while feeding a multibillion dollar industry. Scouring thousands of scientific studies and interviewing dozens of health experts, Fumento exposes the diet industry for what it is, explodes the myths of genetics and low metabolism, and dismisses the low-fat-food fib, showing how "lite" is loaded with unwanted calories and "non-fat" makes us fatter. Most important, he offers honest, healthy, and helpful information about how important it is to lose excess weight, and how to keep it off forever.

"An anthropologist examines the nature of religiosity, and how it shapes and benefits humankind. Believers is a scientist's answer to attacks on faith by some well-meaning scientists and philosophers-- a firm rebuke of the "Four Horsemen": Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, known for writing about religion as something irrational and ultimately harmful. Konner, who was raised as an Orthodox Jew but has lived his adult life without such faith, explores the psychology, development, brain science, evolution, and even genetics of the varied religious impulses we as a species experience. Conceding that faith is not for everyone, he views religious people with a sympathetic eye; his own upbringing, his apprenticeship in the trancedance religion of the African Bushmen, and his friends in Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, and other faiths have all shaped his perspective. He concludes that religion does much good as well as undoubted harm, and that for at least a large minority of humanity, the belief in things unseen neither can nor should go away"--

A thoroughly engrossing memoir that recounts Beckwith's halting steps toward scientific triumphs--among them, the discovery of the genetic element that turns on genes--as well as his emergence as a world-class political activist, "Making Genes, Making Waves" is a compelling history of the major controversies in genetics during the last 30 years.

"In this powerful critique, the esteemed historian and philosopher of science Evelyn Fox Keller addresses the nature-nurture debates, including the persistent disputes regarding the roles played by genes and the environment in determining individual traits and behavior. Keller is interested in both how an oppositional "versus" came to be inserted between nature and nurture, and how the distinction on which that opposition depends, the idea that nature and nurture are separable, came to be taken for granted. How, she asks, did the illusion of a space between nature and nurture become entrenched in our thinking, and why is it so tenacious? Keller reveals that the assumption that the influences of nature and nurture can be separated is neither timeless nor universal, but rather a notion that emerged in Anglo-American culture in the late nineteenth century. She shows that the seemingly clear-cut nature-nurture debate is riddled with incoherence. It encompasses many disparate questions knitted together into an indissoluble tangle, and it is marked by a chronic ambiguity in language. There is little consensus about the meanings of terms such as nature, nurture, gene, and environment. Keller suggests that contemporary genetics can provide a more appropriate, precise, and useful vocabulary, one that might help put an end to the confusion surrounding the nature-nurture controversy."--Publisher

A revised and concise guide to the latest thoughts and findings on Tourette's Syndrome Edited by two of the leading international authorities on Tourette's Syndrome and tic-related, obsessive-compulsive disorders, Tourette's Syndrome is the most up-to-date edited reference covering this neuropsychiatric disorder and related disorders from a variety of perspectives. Featuring contributors from the world-renowned Yale Child Study Center, this volume introduces a groundbreaking developmental framework for understanding Tourette's-defined by persistent motor and vocal tics and frequently associated with obsessions, compulsions, and attentional difficulties-and maps out the diagnosis, genetics, manifestations, and treatment. Reflecting more than 25 years of research, this comprehensive resource describes the major categories of disorders (TS, obsessive-compulsive disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities) as well as the strengths and adaptation of individuals with Tourette's. A broad, detailed discussion of pathogenesis is provided, including epidemiological studies and environmental risk and protective factors. The book also highlights the necessary partnerships between children, families, and clinicians in the struggle to achieve wished-for outcomes. Enriched by the knowledge of specialists at the forefront of genetics, psychology, neuropsychology, pharmacology, neurochemistry, and epidemiology, among other fields, Tourette's Syndrome gives clinicians valuable insight into the minds of and proper care for individuals battling this and related disorders.

A fascinating and detailed examination of the evolution--and occasional devolution--of sexuality in microorganisms and more complex forms of life. Margulis and Sagan trace sex from its inauspicious beginnings in bacteria threatened by ultraviolet radiation to its intimate relation with the origin of mitotic division of nucleated cells. The origin of meiotic sex through cannibalism followed by centriole reproductive tardiness and the connection of cell symbiosis to sex and differentiation are explored. "The authors have not only given us a new and exiting scenario for the evolution of sex, but have also provided us with critical ways in which we can test their hypotheses. . . . This is a stimulating book that is sure to invoke criticism and discussion; I strongly recommend it."-- Symbiosis "The book is well organized and well written, leading the reader from one thought to another almost effortlessly. Background information is presented to aid those of us who are not experts in this field, and a glossary is appended. The book could be used at all levels of study, from interested undergraduates in general biology though postdoctoral students of genetics and evolution. I recommend this thought-provoking book to you for both your enjoyment and your enlightenment."--Richard W. Cheney, Jr., Journal of College Science Teaching "This book, undoubtedly controversial, is a thoughtful and original contribution to an important aspect of cellular biology."--John Langridge

The two companies had agreed that the CEPH would supply Millennium with a store of genetic material collected from a large number of French families, and Millennium would supply funding and expertise in new technologies to accelerate the identification of the genes, terms that the French government had approved. But in early 1994, just as the collaboration was to begin, the French government abruptly called a halt.

Scientists are racing to unravel the code of life in our DNA sequences. But once we know the code, will we know what life means? Will we know what to do with the powerful -- healing, destructive, and marketable -- information we will have? Barbara Katz Rothman's warm, learned, passionate, and humorous voice is just the one we need to guide us through some of the most loaded issues and technologies of our time -- ones that bear on the most intimate aspects of our lives. Her astute observations about the new genetics are combined with personal reflections: about raising a black child; the risks of cancer; midwives and pregnancy; the social web into which we are born; motherhood; time, growth, chance, and all the indefinable things that make us human. She helps us to think about the place of genetic science in our own lives, its role in our social world, and how we choose to think about human life itself. A genetic map will take us places, but we need an imagination to see the relationship between DNA and public policy, between genes and the society we live in, and to understand why human life can't be reduced to genetics. Rothman inspires that imagination, in a book that is essential reading.

Tudor Parfitt examines a myth which is based on one of the world's oldest mysteries - what happened to the lost tribes of Israel? Christians and Jews alike have attached great importance to the legendary fate of these tribes which has had a remarkable impact on their ideologies throughout history. Each tribe of Israel claimed descent from one of the twelve sons of Jacob and the land of Israel was eventually divided up between them. Following a schism which formed after the death of Solomon, ten of the tribes set up an independent northern kingdom, whilst those of Judah and Levi set up a separate southern kingdom. In 721BC the ten northern tribes were ethnically cleansed by the Assyrians and the Bible states they were placed: 'in Halah and in Habor by the river of Gozan and in the city of Medes.' The Bible also foretold that one day they would be reunited with the southern tribes in the final redemption of the people of Israel. Their subsequent history became a tapestry of legend and hearsay. The belief persisted that they had been 'lost' in some remote part of the world and there were countless suggestions and claims as to where. At a lecture Parfitt gave some years ago in Cape Town he was approached by a group of Africans who claimed to be members of the Lemba tribe from a mysterious lost city of Sena, and of Jewish descent. The final chapter will attempt to reveal, using a combination of linguistics and genetics, what did become of these lost tribes.

Biological Foundations of Emotion is a detailed account of the relations between brain structure, functions, and emotions based on the results of experimental work and theoretical modeling. A range of issues are examined, such as whether there are structures, circuits, or biochemical events in the brain that control emotional expressions or experience; the effects of lesions and electrical stimulation on emotions; and the role of genetics in the expression of emotion. Comprised of 16 chapters, this volume begins with a presentation of general models of brain functioning. The first chapter deals with the neural substrate for emotion and cites evidence showing that the conventional concept of a limbic system underlying all emotions is not adequate. The discussion then turns to ethological and evolutionary factors of emotion, with emphasis on neuroendocrine patterns of emotional response; ictal symptoms relating to the nature of affects and their cerebral substrate; the anatomy of emotions; and neural systems involved in emotion in primates. Subsequent chapters present different but overlapping brain models of aggression and examine the role of biochemistry in understanding emotions. This book will be of interest to biologists and psychologists.

Timely and unrivalled, this first work to categorize and systematically cover all recently identified receptors in the human genome is all set to become the gold standard in the field of receptor genetics and physiology. In three handy volumes, this comprehensive guide adopts an innovative approach, where, in the first part, each receptor family is discussed individually, based on the latest evidence. In the second part, the knowledge is integrated into concepts and overviews of common themes in present-day receptor research.While serving as a central resource for many disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular genetics and physiology, this reference will be equally welcomed by drug developers and cancer researchers.

This collection touches on a wide range of anthropological issues, including family and marriage, myths, and rites, the environment and its representation, and constraint and freedom. The essays encompass more than forty years of analysis and constrain arguments that are as relevant today as they were thirty years ago. "Hardly a field remains untouched—sociobiology, linguistics, botany, genetics, psychiatry, esthetics, ecology, politics, neuroscience, education, morality, psychology. . . . It's all breathtaking and alarming, some of it wonderful, some of it ridiculous. . . . At times the experience is exhilarating."—Richard A. Shweder, New York Times Book Review