Lynn E. H. Trainor - Böcker

What is the physics of life and why does it matter? The essays in this book probe this question, celebrating modern biology's vibrant dialog with theoretical physics — a scientific adventure in which biological understanding is enriched by physical theory without losing its own inherent traditions and perspectives. The book explores organic complexity and self-organization through research applications to embryology, cell biology, behavioral neuroscience, and evolution. The essays will excite the interest of physics students in thinking about biology's “grand challenges”, in part by means of self-contained introductions to theoretical computer science, symmetry methods in bifurcation theory, and evolutionary games. Seasoned investigators in both the physical and life sciences will also find challenging ideas and applications presented in this volume.This is a Print On Demand title. We no longer stock the original but will recreate a copy for you. While all efforts are made to ensure that quality is the same as the original, there may be differences in some areas of the design and packaging.

What is the physics of life and why does it matter? The essays in this book probe this question, celebrating modern biology's vibrant dialog with theoretical physics — a scientific adventure in which biological understanding is enriched by physical theory without losing its own inherent traditions and perspectives. The book explores organic complexity and self-organization through research applications to embryology, cell biology, behavioral neuroscience, and evolution. The essays will excite the interest of physics students in thinking about biology's “grand challenges”, in part by means of self-contained introductions to theoretical computer science, symmetry methods in bifurcation theory, and evolutionary games. Seasoned investigators in both the physical and life sciences will also find challenging ideas and applications presented in this volume.This is a Print On Demand title. We no longer stock the original but will recreate a copy for you. While all efforts are made to ensure that quality is the same as the original, there may be differences in some areas of the design and packaging.

The purpose of this book is to bring to interested readers (professionals and laypersons alike) an appreciation and a basic understanding of what the genetic code is and why it has come to revolutionize thinking about living systems as a whole. The consequences of this revolution in molecular biology are so vast as to be almost incomprehensible. It seems important in a democratic society to have a citizenry well informed about the crucial issues of the day, such as genetic engineering and molecular medicine, which impact the social order and the ethos of society in such a profound way.This book discusses concisely the genetic code — what it is and how it provides the key to molecular biology. The structures of DNA (as revealed by Watson and Crick) and of the various forms of RNA are described in some detail, and it is shown how these structures are marvellously adapted to the twin problems of inheritance of traits and faithful development of individual organisms. In this latter respect, the role of proteins as the “molecules of life” is described and the central dogma of molecular biology (information flows from DNA to RNA to protein) elaborated. In addition, theories of the origin and development of the universal genetic code are reviewed briefly, and a perspective concerning the impact of molecular biology on the social ethos is presented.