Genetics and Randomness

ISBN-13: 9781420078855 / Angielski / Miękka / 2009 / 160 str.

Anatoly Ruvinsky

Opis

Analyzes Randomness in Major Genetic Processes and Events No matter how far science advances, the proportion of what is knowable to what is random will remain unchanged, and attempts to ignore this critical threshold are futile at best. With the revolutionary explosion in genetic information discovery, it is crucially important to recognize the underlying limitations of scientific prediction in genetics. Genetics and Randomness furthers the understanding of the role randomness plays in critical biological processes. The book also navigates the complex nature of genetic uncertainty from different points of view and at various levels of biological organization. Avoids Unnecessary Technical Details and Specific Terminology Exploring areas ranging from basic quantum mechanics and molecular genetics to modern evolutionary genetics and the philosophy of mathematics, this well-organized text discusses:

• Spontaneity of mutations and their relation to subatomic randomness
• Deep links between subatomic fluctuations and long-term macroscopic changes in living organisms
• The multitude of random events that occur during development
• Segregation, genetic drift, and natural selection

Randomness and uncertainty are not occasional and regretful deviations from the "true" principles upon which life is built. Genetics and Randomness illustrates the ubiquitous nature of randomness as an integral feature of all essential processes, effectively embracing a probabilistic understanding of the phenomena of life.

With the revolutionary explosion of genetic information in recent decades, it is important to realize the underlying limitations of scientific predictions in genetics. Avoiding unnecessary technical details, this book helps readers accept and embrace a probabilistic view and understand the role of randomness in critical biological processes. It explores the nature of genetic uncertainty from different points of view and at different levels of biological organization. The book also traces the origin of some ideas of randomness starting from the basics of quantum mechanics and molecular genetics to modern evolutionary genetics and the philosophy of mathematics.

Spis treści

Limits and uncertainty in nature and logic. Quantum fluctuations, mutations, and "fixation" of uncertainty. Recombination and randomness. Uncertainty of development. Organized randomness. Random genetic drift and "deterministic" selection. Life: Making uncertainty certain.

O autorze

Anatoly Ruvinsky, Ph.D., is a Professor of Genetics at the University of New England in Australia. He has published numerous papers in leading journals and has edited several books, including a series of six books on mammalian genetics. His major research interests lie in evolutionary and developmental genetics as well as bioinformatics.