The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution PDF

Rating: Author: Sean B. Carroll ISBN : Product Detai New from Format: PDF

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Throw out your fossils—the best evidence for evolution is now found in DNA.

DNA is the genetic blueprint of all creatures. Scientists have only recently discovered that it is also a living chronicle of evolution. In this book, leading biologist and writer Sean B. Carroll takes us on an exhilarating tour of the exquisite evolutionary record. The DNA record of evolution is filled with surprises. Immortal genes and evolution repeating itself are two of the stunners that await the lucky reader. The case for evolution can no longer be contested now that the DNA evidence is revealed.

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• File Size: 2098 KB
• Print Length: 304 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (September 17, 2007)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B001MZ0FHU
• Text-to-Speech: Not enabled
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• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,437 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
  • #55 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Evolution
  • #66 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Genetics
• #19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
• #55 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Evolution
• #66 in Books > Medical Books > Basic Sciences > Genetics

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution PDF

Richard Dawkins wrote a very enjoyable book titled The Ancestors Tale. It traces our evolution backwards, from humans, through apes and monkeys and so on, back to simple one-celled organisms. It tells the who of evolution: which species were descended from which. The Making of the Fittest tells the how and why: how variations appear in organisms and why they survive, or don't. This is the story of natural selection. Darwin told the story, but a lot more has been learned since then, especially in recent decades, and Sean B. Carroll has been one of the discoverers. But, unlike many researchers, he can write a readable book for beginners.

Carroll focuses on DNA because that's of prime importance. When DNA is copied, for the reproduction of the cell or the organism, the copy is not always exact. The new variant is usually harmful, but might be helpful. Carroll shows, using elementary arithmetic, why helpful variants occur and prosper much more often that most people would guess. Keep in mind that, when a bad gene does come along, the organism usually dies and the gene disappears from the pool. The good genes usually accumulate.

Carroll tells the story mostly through examples. For example, we humans are descended from animals that could see only 2 colors. Carroll tells of the duplication of the gene for one of the colors and the mutation of the second copy to react to a third color. (I simplify; Carroll tells more of the story.) Duplication and subsequent mutation of genes is very important in evolution. It allows organisms to develop new capabilities without losing the old.

Another important mechanism involves genes which control the expression of other genes.

There is a notorious book for creationists titled _Evolution: The Fossils Say No!_ It gets right to its point in its title which accomplishes two things. One is to claim that fossils do not say what overwhelmingly biologists and geologists say they say. The other is to emphasize that fossils are the chief evidence evolution can muster. That might have been true a hundred years ago, but now, even if we had no fossils to study, we would still have wonderfully abundant evidence of evolution happening and just how it happened. We can now look directly at the DNA in animals that have evolved from previous ancestors and see indubitable chains of linkage. Sean B. Carroll, a professor of genetics, relates the stories scientists are coaxing from the molecules of genes in _The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution_ (Norton). He points out in his preface that there is wide public acceptance and understanding of DNA testing in solving crimes; DNA can provide testimony about who was present at a crime scene with far more trustworthiness than fingerprints or eyewitness recollection. Yet polls consistently show that something like half of the public in the United States are more likely to go with the anti-Darwinian ideas in _Evolution: The Fossils Say No!_ than they are to subscribe to the theory of evolution. It is Carroll's aim to have readers consider the DNA evidence for evolution as strong as DNA evidence from crime scenes, and his clear and entertaining book does just that. "Every evolutionary change between species, from physical form to digestive metabolism," he writes, "is due to - and recorded in - DNA. So, too, is the 'paternity' of species. DNA contains, therefore, the ultimate forensic record of evolution.