Description
Book SynopsisIn 1953, two young, unknown scientists sparked a worldwide revolution. Studying DNA for clues to the nature of genes, James Watson and Francis Crick deduced its molecular composition - two chains twisted into a double helix - and immediately realized that the structure implied how genes were copied and passed from one generation to the next.Their observation has had extraordinary consequences: the discovery of a genetic code that all living things share and the realization that the code translates into proteins; the ability to alter an organism''s genetic make-up; recognition that diseases like cancer begin when genes go wrong; the foundations of a biotechnology industry and the means of cloning plants and animals; a start on cataloguing human genes; and the glimmer of a new kind of medicine that uses DNA therapeutically.In the midst of the ferment, its instigator Jim Watson has been tireless. A principal architect and visionary of the new biology, a Nobel Prize-winner at 34 and best-s
Trade ReviewReview from previous edition James D. Watson . . . has always been a man of passion and strong views . . . His writings on the important issues of the day, prepared over a period of more than thirty years and presented in the 25 essays of this wonderful book, are only slightly less provocative than his frequently startling spontaneous remarks. * Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences *
Table of ContentsAUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FLIGHTS; VALUES FROM A CHICAGO UPBRINGING; GROWING UP IN THE PHAGE GROUP; MINDS THAT LIVE FOR SCIENCE; EARLY SPECULATIONS AND FACTS ABOUT RNA TEMPLATES; BRAGG'S FOREWORD TO THE DOUBLE HELIX; BIOGRAPHIES: LURIA, HERSHEY, AND PAULING ; RECOMINANT DNA CONTROVERSIES; IN FURTHER DEFENSE OF DNA; STANDING UP FOR RECOMBINANT DNA; THE NOBELIST VERSUS THE FILM STAR; THE DNA BIOCHEMICAL CANARD ; ETHOS OF SCIENCE; MOVING TOWARDS THE CLONAL MAN: IS THIS WHAT WE WANT?; THE DISSEMINATION OF UNPUBLISHED INFORMATION; SCIENCE AND THE AMERICAN SCENE; THE NECESSITY FOR SOME ACADEMIC ALOOFNESS; STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE; SUCCEEDING IN SCIENCE: SOME RULES OF THUMB ; WAR ON CANCER; THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY AND CANCER RESEARCH; MAINTAINING HIGH QUALITY CANCER RESEARCH IN A ZERO-SUM ERA; THE SCIENCE FOR BEATING DOWN CANCER ; SOCIETAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT; MOVING ON TO HUMAN DNA; ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT; GENES AND POLITICS; FIVE DAYS IN BERLIN; GOOD GENE, BAD GENE: WHAT IS THE RIGHT WAY TO FIGHT THE TRAGEDY OF GENETIC DISEASE?; VIEWPOINT: ALL FOR THE GOOD - WHY GENETIC ENGINEERING MUST SOLDIER ON ; AFTERWORD: ENVOI - DNA, PEACE AND LAUGHTER ; NAME INDEX, SUBJECT INDEX
