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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 25
Page xv
... detect positive natural selection, and presents biological examples in which positive selection has been detected. Next, chapter describes the tests used for detecting balancing selection. Many of the bestknown cases of balancing ...
... detect positive natural selection, and presents biological examples in which positive selection has been detected. Next, chapter describes the tests used for detecting balancing selection. Many of the bestknown cases of balancing ...
Page xix
... Detecting Positive Selection 57 Balancing Selection and Disease 71 INTERLUDE II: Human Origins and Evolution 83 Finding Our Roots: Did “Eve” Know “Adam”? 89 Who Were the Neanderthals? I of Are We the Third Chimpanzee? 117 What Are the ...
... Detecting Positive Selection 57 Balancing Selection and Disease 71 INTERLUDE II: Human Origins and Evolution 83 Finding Our Roots: Did “Eve” Know “Adam”? 89 Who Were the Neanderthals? I of Are We the Third Chimpanzee? 117 What Are the ...
Page 6
... future (mainly in chapter ) how biologists can detect the action of positive selection, the form of selection that yields adaptations. Evolution as an Enemy, or Resistance Is Not Futile According DARWINIAN DETECTIVES.
... future (mainly in chapter ) how biologists can detect the action of positive selection, the form of selection that yields adaptations. Evolution as an Enemy, or Resistance Is Not Futile According DARWINIAN DETECTIVES.
Page 23
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
Page 41
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
You have reached your viewing limit for this book.
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 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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