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 ix
... species, and most others. Without copious genetic variation, forensic DNA would be of little value. The riddle of that variation is one of the most important themes of this book. As in many other respects at this moment in history ...
... species, and most others. Without copious genetic variation, forensic DNA would be of little value. The riddle of that variation is one of the most important themes of this book. As in many other respects at this moment in history ...
Page xv
... species or two subspecies of the same species. Chapter explores the data that show that our closest relatives are the common chimpanzee and the bonobo (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee). What were the genetic changes that made ...
... species or two subspecies of the same species. Chapter explores the data that show that our closest relatives are the common chimpanzee and the bonobo (formerly known as the pygmy chimpanzee). What were the genetic changes that made ...
Page 3
... species transplants. Bailey and his staff did use antibiotics and other measures to minimize the risk of rejection, but their measures did not prevent the immune reaction. Why use a baboon heart? Other primates, such as gorillas and ...
... species transplants. Bailey and his staff did use antibiotics and other measures to minimize the risk of rejection, but their measures did not prevent the immune reaction. Why use a baboon heart? Other primates, such as gorillas and ...
Page 7
... species of these pathogenic bacteria are resistant to multiple antibiotics, including some that had previously been antibiotics of “last resort.” The evolution of antibiotic resistance is often so rapid that new antibiotics are ...
... species of these pathogenic bacteria are resistant to multiple antibiotics, including some that had previously been antibiotics of “last resort.” The evolution of antibiotic resistance is often so rapid that new antibiotics are ...
Page 8
... species by using more pesticides or targeting specific pest species. The principles of evolution tell us that this is bound to intensify the evolution of specific resistance, and that a better strategy from an evolutionary point of view ...
... species by using more pesticides or targeting specific pest species. The principles of evolution tell us that this is bound to intensify the evolution of specific resistance, and that a better strategy from an evolutionary point of view ...
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