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"Each of us is, in a way, an experiment,
and an example of the life-preserving, creative diversity
expressed at our moment in time by the human genome. Indeed,
we share with one another, no less than with the majesty
of the redwoods and the doves, the fact that each of us
is a unique creation of the barely tapped potential immanent
in the first genomes on Earth." -- from the Prologue
With the basic blueprint of the human genome
now in hand, scientists are beginning to probe more deeply
into life's mysteries in ways that have never before been
possible. One of the most enduring and controversial of
those mysteries is how evolution by natural selection could
have produced the incredibly complex life forms we see all
around us. How could a process based on random mutation
exhibit such powerful, seemingly progressive principles
of design? Until now, this question has been fiercely debated
by those who believe that there must be an intelligent designer
driving the process and those who believe that random mutation
alone can somehow produce sufficient complexity.
But now, in this eloquent and timely book,
Lynn Helena Caporale, a molecular biologist at the forefront
of genomics research, offers an exciting new theory that
sees past both the ideas of a purely random model, and the
alternative of the action of an external designer, to reveal
a more comprehensible mechanism at work. A mechanism that
looks startlingly strategic and purposeful, and yet is consistent
with the basic Darwinian model. Simply put: Not all mutations
are "random accidents." In the struggle for survival
-- from pathogens to flowers, birds to orangutans, baker's
yeast to human beings -- the fittest genomes are effective
strategists, responding to, and in fact anticipating, challenges
and opportunities in their environments.
Writing with elegant clarity and rigor,
Lynn Helena Caporale describes the emergence of genomic
mutations strategies, spelling out some of the more profound
implications of these insights, including the possibility
of bold new directions for medical research and the inherent
dangers of attempting to fix perceived "errors"
in a human genome, all the while stressing the importance
of human diversity -- and biodiversity -- for survival in
a world in which each of us shares 99.97 percent of our
DNA with every "perfect stranger" on Earth.
Lynn Helena Caporale received her Ph.D.
in molecular biology from the University of California at
Berkeley. After teaching and doing research at New York
University, Memorial/Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller
University, and Georgetown University Medical School, she
moved to Merck Research Laboratories, where she spent over
a decade focused on the discovery of new medicines. Dr.
Caporale has held research and senior executive positions
with various biotechnology companies and in the pharmaceutical
industry and currently is an independent consultant in drug
discovery and functional genomics. She lives in New York
City.
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