Darwinian Detectives: Revealing the Natural History of Genes and GenomesBiology is often viewed today as a bipartisan field, with molecular level genetics guiding us into the future and natural history (including ecology, evolution, and conservation biology,) chaining us to a descriptive scientific past. In Darwinian Detectives, Norman Johnson bridges this divide, revealing how the tried and true tools of natural history make sense of the newest genomic discoveries. Molecular scientists exploring newly sequenced genomes have stumbled upon quite a few surprises, including that only one to ten percent of the genetic material of animals actually codes for genes. What does the remaining 90-99% of the genome do? Why do some organisms have a much lower genome size than their close relatives? What were the genetic changes that were associated with us becoming human? As molecular biologists uncover these and other new mysteries, evolutionary geneticists are searching for answers to such questions. Norman Johnson captures the excitement of the hunt for our own genetic history. Through lively anecdotes, he explores how researchers detect natural selection acting on genes and what this genetic information tells us about human origins. |
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Page xiii
... chapter , the time and place identified for the most recent common ancestor for all humanity depend upon which gene is chosen for study. This book explores how evolutionary biologists use the tools of molecular genetics to unravel the ...
... chapter , the time and place identified for the most recent common ancestor for all humanity depend upon which gene is chosen for study. This book explores how evolutionary biologists use the tools of molecular genetics to unravel the ...
Page xiv
... chapters through , we'll explore how evolutionary geneticists go about their detective work of finding the footprints of selection on genes. Chapter begins with a discussion of the importance of negative selection in the ...
... chapters through , we'll explore how evolutionary geneticists go about their detective work of finding the footprints of selection on genes. Chapter begins with a discussion of the importance of negative selection in the ...
Page xv
... Chapter introduces some of the basic tests used to detect positive natural selection, and presents biological examples in which positive selection has been detected. Next, chapter describes the tests used for detecting balancing ...
... Chapter introduces some of the basic tests used to detect positive natural selection, and presents biological examples in which positive selection has been detected. Next, chapter describes the tests used for detecting balancing ...
Page xvi
... chapters and , the more mathematical material is set aside in boxes from the rest of the text. Occasionally, I have simplified concepts and results; in some cases, I provide more information in the endnotes, and in others, I ...
... chapters and , the more mathematical material is set aside in boxes from the rest of the text. Occasionally, I have simplified concepts and results; in some cases, I provide more information in the endnotes, and in others, I ...
Page xvii
... chapters from the book: Carol Boggs, Julie Froehlig, Jay Hegde, Chad Hoefler, Olivia Judson, Michael Lynch, John McDonald, Mohamed Noor, Ben Normarck, Sarah Purvis, Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Michael Wade, and Sean Werle. Several anonymous ...
... chapters from the book: Carol Boggs, Julie Froehlig, Jay Hegde, Chad Hoefler, Olivia Judson, Michael Lynch, John McDonald, Mohamed Noor, Ben Normarck, Sarah Purvis, Lynnette Leidy Sievert, Michael Wade, and Sean Werle. Several anonymous ...
Contents
3 | |
2 Why Intelligent Design Is Not Science | 17 |
Natural Selection | 37 |
Human Origins and Evolution | 83 |
Notes | 185 |
Glossary | 197 |
References | 201 |
Index | 213 |
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Africa amino acid balancing selection Behe billion nucleotides biology bonobos brain breeds changes chapter chimps chromosome clicks closest relatives colleagues complex correlated Darwin Darwinian deleterious detect disease divergence DNA sequences dogs domesticated effective population size effective population sizes estimate evidence evolutionary biologists evolutionary geneticists evolve exists females FOXP frequency function genes genetic drift genetic variants genome size haplotypes hemoglobin heterozygotes Homo homozygotes human genome human lineage humans and chimpanzees humans and Neanderthals hypothesis individuals insects intelligent design introns Kimura language less maize males mammals mitochondrial DNA mitochondrial Eve modern humans molecular evolution molecules mtDNA natural selection Neanderthals negative selection neutral theory nucleotides occurred organisms origins patterns plants polymorphism positive selection protein pufferfish recent common ancestor regulatory region replacement researchers result scientific scientists silent sites similar species teosinte traits transposable elements vertebrates virus Y chromosome Y-chromosome Y-chromosome Adam