This book brings the concerned individual up-to-date on the breakthroughs and social questions emerging from biology today. Author Steve Olson draws on the latest research in a number of fields as well as the views of leading biologists, ethicists, and philosophers. He tells the story of the intricate, often frustrating, path scientists must follow to find out why we are the way we are. The volume highlights groundbreaking research being done in four of biology's most exciting fields: genetics, development, neurobiology, and evolution. In each field, the implications of this research extend far beyond basic biology, ranging from human gene therapy to cancer, from neural transplantation to the evolution of the atmosphere.

Contents

• Foreword
• Preface
• [Dedication]
• Introduction
• Chapter 1. Genetics and the Human Genome
  • Genetics and Disease
  • Tracking Disease to Its Source
  • Putting Genes on a Map
  • A Genetic Scalpel
  • RFLPs and Disease Diagnosis
  • The Price of Knowledge
  • From Mapping to Sequencing
  • Prospects for Human Gene Therapy
  • ESSAY-Science and Scientists from the Public's Perspective
• Chapter 2. Biological Development and Cancer
  • Unifying Concepts
  • Inside an Egg
  • Communication Among Cells
  • Development Gone Awry: Cancer
  • ESSAY-Ethical Considerations in the Use of Human Materials
• Chapter 3. Neuroscience and Neuronal Replacement
  • High-Level Versus Intermediate-Level Functions
  • The Visual World
  • Vision in an Association Area
  • A Sense of Where You Are
  • Representations of the World
  • Neural Regeneration in Canaries
  • New Neurons or Old?
  • The Birthplace of New Neurons
  • Implications for Other Species
  • ESSAY-The Evolution of Ethics
• Chapter 4. Evolution and the Biosphere
  • The Evolution of Proteins
  • A Molecular Clock
  • An Erratic Clock
  • The Value of Molecular Clocks
  • Two Periods of Life
  • Bacteria and the Atmosphere
  • An Oxygenic Atmosphere
  • A Modern View
  • ESSAY-Preserving Biological Diversity
• Afterword
  • Population and Wealth
  • Biology and the Future

Funding for the symposium and for the production of this book was provided by the National Research Council Fund, a pool of private, discretionary, nonfederal funds that is used to support a program of Academy-initiated studies of national issues in which science and technology figure significantly. The NRC Fund consists of contributions from a consortium of private foundations including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Charles E. Culpeper Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; the Academy Industry Program, which seeks annual contributions from companies that are concerned with the health of U.S. science and technology and with public policy issues with technological content; and the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering endowments.

The views in this book are those of the speakers at the symposium and the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences or the National Research Council.

This book is based on a symposium sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences. It has been reviewed according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and their use for the general welfare. Under the authority of its congressional charter of 1863, the Academy has a working mandate that calls upon it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Frank Press is President of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of 1863. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine.