Human Genome Project

"An easily read book...that can be used as an introduction to the looming problems in the access to genetic technology."-JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association).

Recent advances in biotechnology in areas as diverse as agriculture, the environment, food, and healthcare have led to much debate and media attention. This unique reference resource for advanced high school students and teachers explores the science behind these new technologies and examines the stakeholders and their stakes in the various debates. The author presents views of scientists, doctors, insurance companies, and big businesses, among others, on such issues as genetic testing, patenting of human gene sequences, cloning, and genetically engineered food.

With the rise of genomics, the life sciences have entered a new era. Maps of genomes have become the icons for a comprehensive knowledge of the organism on a previously unattained level of complexity, and the organisation of genetic knowledge in maps has been a major driving force in the establishment of the discipline. This book provides a comprehensive history of molecular genetics and genomics.The first section of the book shows how the genetic cartography of classical genetics was linked to the molecular analysis of gene structure through the introduction of new model organisms such as bacteria and through the invention of new experimental tools such as gene transfer. The second section addresses the moral and political economy of human genome sequencing in all its technical, epistemic, social and economic complexity.With detailed analyses of the scientific practices of mapping and its illustration of the diversity of mapping practices this book is a significant contribution to the history of genetics. A companion volume from the same editors - Classical Genetic Research and Its Legacy: The Mapping Cultures of Twentieth Century Genetics - covers the history of mapping procedures as they were developed in classical genetics.

An exploration of medical discoveries-from the ancient Greeks to the present "Always help, or at least do no harm." Following this simple yet revolutionary idea, Hippocrates laid the foundation for modern medicine over two millennia ago. From the Hippocratic Oath to the human genome, from Pasteur's germ theory to the worldwide eradication of smallpox, Medical Firsts brings to life 2,500 years of medical advances and discoveries. Organized chronologically, the book describes each milestone in a vivid capsule history, making it a fascinating and wonderfully readable resource for anyone interested in medicine's past progress and future promise. Robert E. Adler, PhD (Santa Rosa, CA) has worked as a psychologist and science journalist. He writes about a wide variety of scientific and medical topics for New Scientist, Nature, and other publications and is the author of Science Firsts (0-471-40174-9).

Human beings have on the order of 100,000 different genes encoding the molecules needed to build and operate the human body; defects in any one of them can lead to disastrous consequences. There are an estimated 4,000 genetic disorders, which can be every bit as devastating as the diseases caused by bacteria or viruses, and in one way they are much worse: we pass them on to our children, generation after generation after generation. The New Healers is the story of the devastation these diseases cause, and the scientific researchers and doctors who struggle to combat them. Science and medicine have provided us with clues to the treatment of a few genetic diseases, although by their very nature they have never been considered curable. But, as William R. Clark shows, that is about to change through one of the most profound revolutions in modern medicine: gene therapy, a branch of the new field of molecular medicine. Clark takes us to the laboratories which have been able to isolate human genes, to make billions of copies of them, and to reintroduce healthy genes into unfortunate individuals who have inherited damaged or functionless genes. He also shows us how this same technology, turned around on itself, can also be used to deliberately introduce "bad" genes to attack and destroy unwanted cells, such as cancer cells or cells infected with the AIDS virus. Molecular medicine will be a major part of our lives in the new millennium. The New Healers outlines the powerful and compelling logic behind molecular medicine: everything we know about molecular biology tells us that it can work, and that it will work. Clark introduces us to the scientists working now to map out the entire human genome, easily the medical equivalent of going to the moon, taking human beings to a completely new level of understanding of our biological selves. Clark also helps us to begin thinking about how we will manage that understanding, and how we will use the information we gain. The New Healers is a clear and compelling introduction to this important new frontier of human medicine, outlining for readers all the basic elements of molecular biology necessary to understand molecular medicine, and illustrating the fascinating stories of those doctors and patients already a part of this exciting future -- a future as full of promise as anything we have witnessed in this past century of remarkable progress.

This book presents a history of the past two centuries of biology, suitable for use in courses, but of interest more broadly to evolutionary biologists, geneticists, and biomedical scientists, and general readers interested in the history of science. The book covers the early evolutionary biologists-Lamarck, Cuvier, Darwin, Wallace, etc., through Mayr and the neodarwinian synthesis, in much the same way as other histories of evolution have done, bringing in also the social implications, the struggles with our religious understanding, and the interweaving of genetics into evolutionary theory. What is novel about Sapp's account is a real integration of the cytological tradition, from Schwann, Boveri, and the other early cell biologists and embryologists, and the coverage of symbiosis, microbial evolutionary phylogenies, and the new understanding of complete microbial genomes. The book as a whole will serve as a good introduction to the rise of modern biology over the past two centuries.

Written by a well-known industry insider, From Alchemy to IPO addresses the coming-of-age of biotech products and companies and traces the history of biotechnology from its early inception in the seventies to today's heyday of new solutions and breakthrough treatments. It describes the amazing entrepreneurial trail of product development, novel business models, and critical trials that eventually pave the way to market. This is the first book to accurately record the inner workings of an industry -- biotechnology -- that's on the verge of living up to its monumental promise to change the world as we know it.

The volume examines the convergence of biotechnology and communication systems and how this convergence directly influences our understanding of the nature of communication. For scholars/students in science communication, cultural studies, information technologies, and sociology.