The Making of the Fittest by Sean B Carroll
DNA evidence not only solves crimes - if you know how to read it, it can also reveal the history of life on earth. This fast-paced book guides the general reader on a tour of the DNA record left by three billion years of evolution to see how the fittest were made. And what a eye-opening tour it is - one featuring immortal genes, fossil genes, and genes that bear the scars of past battles with terrible diseases. Natural selection eliminates harmful changes and embraces beneficial ones, and each change leaves its signature on a species' DNA codes. For example, the Antarctic ice fish today has no red blood cells; yet a fossilized gene for hemoglobin remains in its DNA, showing that the fish has adapted over 55 million years by losing the red blood cells that thicken blood and make it harder to pump in extreme cold.The fish has developed other features that allow it to absorb and circulate blood without hemoglobin. Carroll points out that by examining the DNA of these ice fish species, it's possible to map its origins as well as the history of the South Atlantic's geology. He also uses dolphins, colobus monkeys, pigeons, fruit flys and microbes to demonstrate how deeply evolution is etched in DNA.
Reading The Making of the Fittest is like spending a few hours with an extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic dinner companion - Washington PostThis is a fast-paced tour of evolution and an eloquent refutation of Intelligent Design from a world class authority in DNA and biology - The Spectator. - so many people have yet to be persuaded that Darwin's case has been proven. Carroll's book may help convince them - Observer.
Sean B. Carroll is an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His scientific discoveries have been featured in Time and The New York Times, and Carroll himself has written articles for Natural History and Playboy. His first book, Endless Forms Most Beautiful was a 2005 Top Popular Science Book of the Year (USA Today). He and his wife and children reside in Madison, Wisconsin.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781847244765 |
| ISBN 10 | 1847244769 |
| Title | The Making of the Fittest |
| Author | Sean B Carroll |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Quercus Publishing |
| Year published | 2008-02-07 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Prizes | Winner of Phi Beta Kappa Science Book Prize 2007 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |