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Glowing Genes is the first popular
science book on an amazing new area of biotechnology that
will help us understand cancer, create new products, improve
agriculture, and combat terrorism. For more than 160 million
years, green fluorescent protein has existed in one species
of jellyfish. In 1994 it was cloned, giving rise to a host
of useful and potentially revolutionary applications in
biotechnology. Today, researchers are using this ancient
glowing protein to pursue exciting new discoveries, from
tracking the process of bacterial infection to detecting
chemical and biological agents planted by terrorists.
A recognized expert in this field, Marc
Zimmer begins with an overview of the many uses of these
glowing genes to image cancer cells, monitor bacterial infections,
and light up in the presence of pollution. He then discusses
the biological reasons that glowing proteins first evolved
in jellyfish and fireflies, and he looks at the history
of bioluminescence and the dedicated scientists who devoted
their careers to explaining this penomenon. The story of
how "glowing genes" were located, cloned, and
then mass produced is in itself a fascinating tale.
Zimmer next turns to the serious, and not-so-serious,
uses of fluorescent proteins. In agriculture it may soon
be possible to produce crops that signal dryness by glowing.
In industry a red fluorescent protein originally found in
corals may be used to create sheep with red wood, eliminating
the need for environmentally harmful dyes. Furthermore,
the glowing-gene revolution has led to significantly more
humane treatment of laboratory animals. No longer must animal
lives be sacrificed to understand disease processes; now
researchers can observe the spread of cancer and infections
in live animals with green fluorescent genes and similar
proteins.
In the fight against terrorism, genetically
modified organisms containing glowing genes have been created
that light up in the presence of anthrax spores, chemical
warfare agents, and landmines. And in a completely different
arena, we have already seen the emergence of "transgenic
art" in Alba, the fluorescent rabbit.
Glowing Genes is a highly informative,
fascinating, and entertaining read about a burgeoning area
of biotechnology that promises soon to revolutionize our
world.
Marc Zimmer, Ph.D., is the Christian
A. Johnson Distinguished Teaching Professor and professor
of chemistry at Connecticut College. His research has been
funded by the National Institutes of Health, and he has
published more than fifty scientific papers, mainly on the
topic of bioluminescence.
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