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Beyond DNA: How Epigenetics is Transforming our Understanding of Evolution
Uncover how a new approach to epigenetics affects the basis for our understanding of evolutionary biology.
Beyond DNA is a journey through uncharted territory, advancing new ways of thinking about evolution and adaptation. For nearly a hundred years evolutionary biologists have understood that evolution proceeds by substituting better genes for less good ones. But consensus is growing that this is not the whole geneticists are now revealing that spores, sperm, pollen and ova are packed with personalised genetic information that plays an important role in offspring development and has lifelong effects. This epigenetic - or ‘extra-genetic ’ - inheritance therefore makes significant contributions to evolutionary processes.
In this highly accessible book, packed with instructive examples, Benjamin Oldroyd explains how a greater appreciation of the role of epigenetics is helping to solve a multitude of previously intractable problems in evolutionary biology — puzzles as varied as why invasive plants and animals can rapidly adapt to changes in their environment, how worker bees and queen bees can develop from the same egg, and why cancer becomes more common as we age.
Beyond DNA concisely explains the mechanisms that underlie epigenetics, shows how epigenetic processes can lead to adaptation, and speculates on meaty issues such as the role that epigenetics plays in human health and happiness.
Beyond DNA is a journey through uncharted territory, advancing new ways of thinking about evolution and adaptation. For nearly a hundred years evolutionary biologists have understood that evolution proceeds by substituting better genes for less good ones. But consensus is growing that this is not the whole geneticists are now revealing that spores, sperm, pollen and ova are packed with personalised genetic information that plays an important role in offspring development and has lifelong effects. This epigenetic - or ‘extra-genetic ’ - inheritance therefore makes significant contributions to evolutionary processes.
In this highly accessible book, packed with instructive examples, Benjamin Oldroyd explains how a greater appreciation of the role of epigenetics is helping to solve a multitude of previously intractable problems in evolutionary biology — puzzles as varied as why invasive plants and animals can rapidly adapt to changes in their environment, how worker bees and queen bees can develop from the same egg, and why cancer becomes more common as we age.
Beyond DNA concisely explains the mechanisms that underlie epigenetics, shows how epigenetic processes can lead to adaptation, and speculates on meaty issues such as the role that epigenetics plays in human health and happiness.
- GenresNonfictionBiology
412 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 12, 2023
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December 29, 2024
Very interesting content with lots of examples (some not proven) but despite the aim, and obvious effort, to make it accessible to a non-scientific audience, I found it hard going. And I had just finished a 'science for non-scientists' short course on DNA. Without the understanding I gained from the course, I would have struggled with parts of this book. I didn't find the pictures particularly helpful in improving understanding; they illustrated the text but didn't add anything. I would have liked more information on the implications for human health but it seems the research is still in its very early stages.
Displaying 1 of 1 review