An edition of Lamarck's revenge (2018)

Lamarck's revenge

how epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of evolution's past and present

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Lamarck's revenge
Peter D. Ward, Peter D. Ward
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Last edited by MARC Bot
December 17, 2022 | History
An edition of Lamarck's revenge (2018)

Lamarck's revenge

how epigenetics is revolutionizing our understanding of evolution's past and present

  • 1 Want to read

"In the 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described epigenetics to explain the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, his theory was supplanted in the 1800s by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection through heritable genetic mutations. But natural selection could not adequately explain how rapidly species re-diversified and repopulated after mass extinctions. Now advances in the study of DNA and RNA have resurrected epigenetics, which can create radical physical and physiological changes in subsequent generations by the simple addition of a single small molecule, thus passing along a propensity for molecules to attach in the same places in the next generation. Epigenetics is a complex process, but paleontologist and astrobiologist Peter Ward breaks it down for general readers, using the epigenetic paradigm to reexamine how the history of our species--from deep time to the outbreak of the Black Plague and into the present--has left its mark on our physiology, behavior, and intelligence. Most alarming are chapters about epigenetic changes we are undergoing now triggered by toxins, environmental pollutants, famine, poor nutrition, and overexposure to violence. Lamarck's Revenge is an eye-opening and provocative exploration of how traits are inherited, and how outside influences drive what we pass along to our progeny."--Page [2] of cover.

Publish Date
Language
English
Pages
273

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Book Details


Table of Contents

Preface: The Jurassic Park of Nevada
Introduction: Looking back
From God to science
Lamarck to Darwin
From Darwin to the new (modern) synthesis
Epigenetics and the newer synthesis
The best of times, the worst of times
in deep time
Epigenetics and the origin and diversification of life
Epigenetics and the Cambrian Explosion
Epigenetic processes before and after mass extinctions
The best and worst of times in human history
Epigenetics and violence
Can famine and food change our DNA?
The heritable legacy of pandemic diseases
The chemical present
Future biotic evolution in the CRISPR-Cas9 world
Epilogue: Looking forward.

Edition Notes

Includes bibliographical references (pages 235-260) and index.

Copyright Date
2018

Classifications

Dewey Decimal Class
572.8/65
Library of Congress
QH450 .W37 2018, QH450.W37 2018

The Physical Object

Pagination
xiv, 273 pages
Number of pages
273

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL26964676M
ISBN 10
1632866153
ISBN 13
9781632866158
LCCN
2018003831
OCLC/WorldCat
1001860233

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December 17, 2022 Edited by MARC Bot import existing book
October 11, 2020 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
May 24, 2019 Created by MARC Bot import new book