The Biological Revolution

The Biological Revolution PDF

Author: Gerald Weissmann

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 151

ISBN-13: 1468435698

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Basic biological research is not in trouble, but support for this cultural product is perhaps more fragile than it should be. We have developed, in this country, in Europe, and in Japan a triumphant record of research accomplishment that has rev olutionized our vision of the cell, the body, and the environ ment. The genetic code has been unraveled, the means of neuromuscular transmission have been elucidated, we know the fine detail of the cell's small geography, and we can de scribe the genes of mouse and man in chemical terms. But it is less clearly perceived by laity and scientist how this new revo lution in biology has been of use in the service of a better medicine or environment. The aim of this series of essays, which grew out of a symposium at the First International Congress of Cell Biology, is to instruct us all in the use that has been made of our new knowledge. In the fields of cancer, behavior, reproduction, genetic engineering, and environmental monitoring, practical results of our new knowledge are already apparent and more are just at hand. But neither the general public nor scientists working in their own narrow disciplines necessarily ap preciate these developments. Perhaps it is all just too new, too "experimental," to permit anyone to gain a proper perspective on what we have done or have the potential of doing.

Liberation Biology

Liberation Biology PDF

Author: Ronald Bailey

Publisher: Prometheus Books

Published: 2013-08

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 1615921699

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

The 21st century will undoubtedly witness unprecedented advances in understanding the mechanisms of the human body and in developing biotechnology. With the mapping of the human genome, the pace of discovery is now on the fast track. By the middle of the century we can expect that the rapid progress in biology and biotechnology will utterly transform human life. What was once the stuff of science fiction may now be within reach in the not-too-distant future: 20-to-40-year leaps in average life spans, enhanced human bodies, drugs and therapies to boost memory and speed up mental processing, and a genetic science that allows parents to ensure that their children will have stronger immune systems, more athletic bodies, and cleverer brains. Even the prospect of human immortality beckons. Such scenarios excite many people and frighten or appall many others. Already biotechnology opponents are organizing political movements aimed at restricting scientific research, banning the development and commercialization of various products and technologies, and limiting citizens'' access to the fruits of the biotech revolution. In this forward-looking book Ronald Bailey, science writer for Reason magazine, argues that the coming biotechnology revolution, far from endangering human dignity, will liberate human beings to achieve their full potentials by enabling more of us to live flourishing lives free of disease, disability, and the threat of early death. Bailey covers the full range of the coming biotechnology breakthroughs, from stem-cell research to third-world farming, from brain-enhancing neuropharmaceuticals to designer babies. Against critics of these trends, who forecast the nightmare society of Huxley''s Brave New World, Bailey persuasively shows in lucid and well-argued prose that the health, safety, and ethical concerns raised by worried citizens and policymakers are misplaced. Liberation Biology makes a positive, optimistic, and convincing case that the biotechnology revolution will improve our lives and the future of our children, while preserving and enhancing the natural environment.

Forgotten Clones

Forgotten Clones PDF

Author: Nathan Crowe

Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 0822987686

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Long before scientists at the Roslin Institute in Scotland cloned Dolly the sheep in 1996, American embryologist and aspiring cancer researcher Robert Briggs successfully developed the technique of nuclear transplantation using frogs in 1952. Although the history of cloning is often associated with contemporary ethical controversies, Forgotten Clones revisits the influential work of scientists like Briggs, Thomas King, and Marie DiBerardino, before the possibility of human cloning and its ethical implications first registered as a concern in public consciousness, and when many thought the very idea of cloning was experimentally impossible. By focusing instead on new laboratory techniques and practices and their place in Anglo-American science and society in the mid-twentieth century, Nathan Crowe demonstrates how embryos constructed in the lab were only later reconstructed as ethical problems in the 1960s and 1970s with the emergence of what was then referred to as the Biological Revolution. His book illuminates the importance of the early history of cloning for the biosciences and their institutional, disciplinary, and intellectual contexts, as well as providing new insights into the changing cultural perceptions of the biological sciences after Second World War.

The Biological Revolution

The Biological Revolution PDF

Author: Corinne Jacker

Publisher:

Published: 1971

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 9780819305251

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Discusses recent advances in the biological sciences, including organ transplants, bionics, cybernetics, life in space, and career opportunities in this field.

Biology and Revolution in Twentieth-Century China

Biology and Revolution in Twentieth-Century China PDF

Author: Laurence A. Schneider

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 9780742553064

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Using the field of genetics as a case study, this book follows the troubled development of modern natural science in China from the 1920s, through Mao's China, to the present post-socialist era. Through detailed portraits of key scientists and institutions, basic dilemmas are explored: how to control nature with science, how to gain independence from foreign-controlled science, how to get scientists out from under control of ideology and the state. Using the field of genetics as a case study, this book follows the troubled development of modern natural science in China from the 1920s, through Mao's China, to the present post-socialist era. Through detailed portraits of key scientists and institutions, basic dilemmas are explored: how to control nature with science, how to gain independence from foreign-controlled science, how to get scientists out from under control of ideology and the state.

The Epigenetics Revolution

The Epigenetics Revolution PDF

Author: Nessa Carey

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2012-03-06

Total Pages: 353

ISBN-13: 0231530714

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth. It explains why mapping an organism's genetic code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Surveying the twenty-year history of the field while also highlighting its latest findings and innovations, this volume provides a readily understandable introduction to the foundations of epigenetics. Nessa Carey, a leading epigenetics researcher, connects the field's arguments to such diverse phenomena as how ants and queen bees control their colonies; why tortoiseshell cats are always female; why some plants need cold weather before they can flower; and how our bodies age and develop disease. Reaching beyond biology, epigenetics now informs work on drug addiction, the long-term effects of famine, and the physical and psychological consequences of childhood trauma. Carey concludes with a discussion of the future directions for this research and its ability to improve human health and well-being.

The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution

The Age of Living Machines: How Biology Will Build the Next Technology Revolution PDF

Author: Susan Hockfield

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2019-05-07

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 0393634752

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From the former president of MIT, the story of the next technology revolution, and how it will change our lives. A century ago, discoveries in physics came together with engineering to produce an array of astonishing new technologies: radios, telephones, televisions, aircraft, radar, nuclear power, computers, the Internet, and a host of still-evolving digital tools. These technologies so radically reshaped our world that we can no longer conceive of life without them. Today, the world’s population is projected to rise to well over 9.5 billion by 2050, and we are currently faced with the consequences of producing the energy that fuels, heats, and cools us. With temperatures and sea levels rising, and large portions of the globe plagued with drought, famine, and drug-resistant diseases, we need new technologies to tackle these problems. But we are on the cusp of a new convergence, argues world-renowned neuroscientist Susan Hockfield, with discoveries in biology coming together with engineering to produce another array of almost inconceivable technologies—next-generation products that have the potential to be every bit as paradigm shifting as the twentieth century’s digital wonders. The Age of Living Machines describes some of the most exciting new developments and the scientists and engineers who helped create them. Virus-built batteries. Protein-based water filters. Cancer-detecting nanoparticles. Mind-reading bionic limbs. Computer-engineered crops. Together they highlight the promise of the technology revolution of the twenty-first century to overcome some of the greatest humanitarian, medical, and environmental challenges of our time.

The Year of the Genome

The Year of the Genome PDF

Author: Gerald Weissmann

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2003-05

Total Pages: 308

ISBN-13: 9780805072921

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

From stem cells to alternative medicine to the mapping of the genome, a lively and stimulating stroll through today’s great scientific breakthroughs Over the course of one year (2000–01), celebrated essayist and research physician Gerald Weissmann documented the modern age of enlightenment, charting its scientific marvels and new plagues. His diary of “the year of the genome” takes us on a literary exploration of laboratories and beyond to see the impact on human life and culture of Dolly the sheep, mad cow disease, RU 486, the Human Genome Project, AIDS drugs, and a score of other current developments. Whether calling on Ralph Waldo Emerson to explain Craig Venter’s drive to unravel the genome or tracing the effect of Rachel Carson’s legacy on the spread of malaria around the world, Weissmann is an invaluable interpreter of the genetic revolution.