MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 03249fam a2200397 a 4500
001 1397059
005 20220602024554.0
008 930907s1994 mau b 001 0 eng
010 $a 93032474
020 $a0395644984
035 $a(OCoLC)28891077
035 $a(OCoLC)ocm28891077
035 $9AHQ8341CU
035 $a(NNC)1397059
035 $a1397059
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dNNC$dOrLoB-B
050 00 $aQH437$b.P65 1994
082 00 $a575.1$220
100 1 $aPollack, Robert,$d1940-$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n50055007
245 10 $aSigns of life :$bthe language and meanings of DNA /$cRobert Pollack.
260 $aBoston :$bHoughton Mifflin,$c1994.
263 $a9401
300 $a212 pages ;$c24 cm
336 $atext$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$2rdamedia
338 $avolume$2rdacarrier
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
520 1 $a"The genetic age is upon us, yet most people have only a limited understanding of the wondrous chemical that encodes the formula for all living things. As DNA's secrets are revealed, they must be rescued from the obscuring language of science, and now Signs of Life does just that. Borrowing from the humanities, Robert Pollack offers an entirely fresh perspective: DNA, he argues, should be seen as a great work of natural literature, a three-billion-year-old, continuously evolving text." "An award-winning scientist and teacher, Pollack displays both a sophisticated understanding of biology and a remarkable gift for metaphor. In elegant prose, he shows precisely how DNA provides the instruction book for life. He takes us deep inside a living cell - a teeming walled city - and explains how the genetic script at its heart governs all its operations. He opens the book containing the human genome and lucidly reveals the process by which biologists and physicians have begun to read its words and sentences." "But the frontier of genetics now extends into troubling territory. Pollack identifies several areas of concern: the ambitious but flawed Human Genome Project, the widespread access to individual genetic data, the temptation to manipulate genetic codes to make them "better." Given our still-crude ability to interpret these living texts, our eagerness to rewrite them is alarming. The power to change the human genome brings with it enormous responsibilities, and Pollack offers persuasive evidence that if we fail to achieve a fuller understanding of the multiple meanings of DNA, we risk disaster." "Signs of Life is both a brilliant illumination of a biological text and a provocative meditation on our awesome new ability to alter it. With the grace of a born writer and teacher, Robert Pollack has written a book that will change the way people think about science, genetics, and the future of our species."--BOOK JACKET.
650 0 $aGenetics$vPopular works.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008117866
650 0 $aDNA$vPopular works.
650 2 $aDNA.$0https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D004247
655 2 $aPopular Work.$0https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D020496
852 00 $boff,bio$hQH437$i.P65 1994
852 00 $bbar$hQH437$i.P65 1994
852 00 $boff,hsl$hQH437$i.P65 1994
852 00 $bmil$hQH437$i.P65 1994