Evolution: A View from the 21st Century
- By James A. Shapiro
- Published Jun 12, 2011 by FT Press. Part of the FT Press Science series.
- Copyright 2011
- Dimensions: 6" x 9"
- Pages: 272
- Edition: 1st
- Book
- ISBN-10: 0-13-278093-3
- ISBN-13: 978-0-13-278093-3
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James A. Shapiro (Chicago, Illinois), Professor in the University of Chicago's Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, is a leading bacterial geneticist, the discoverer of transposable elements in bacteria, and the key researcher involved in organizing the field of mobile genetic elements. The originator of natural genetic engineering, he has been a leading scientific critic of orthodox evolutionary theory for 20 years. He holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Cambridge University and a B.A. in English from Harvard. Shapiro's books include Mobile Genetic Elements. He co-edited Bacteria as Multicellular Organisms (Oxford University Press).
James A. Shapiro proposes an important new paradigm for understanding biological evolution, the core organizing principle of biology. Shapiro introduces crucial new molecular evidence that tests the conventional scientific view of evolution based on the neo-Darwinian synthesis, shows why this view is inadequate to today's evidence, and presents a compelling alternative view of the evolutionary process that reflects the shift in life sciences towards a more information- and systems-based approach in Evolution: A View from the 21st Century.
Shapiro integrates advances in symbiogenesis, epigenetics, and saltationism into a unified approach that views evolutionary change as an active cell process, regulated epigenetically and capable of making rapid large changes by horizontal DNA transfer, inter-specific hybridization, whole genome doubling, symbiogenesis, or massive genome restructuring.
Evolution marshals extensive evidence in support of a fundamental reinterpretation of evolutionary processes, including more than 1,100 references to the scientific literature. Shapiro's work will generate extensive discussion throughout the biological community, and may significantly change your own thinking about how life has evolved. It also has major implications for evolutionary computation, information science, and the growing synthesis of the physical and biological sciences.
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56 of 60 people found the following review helpful
A provocative view of evolution,
This review is from: Evolution: A View from the 21st Century (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)
The history of life is peppered with novelties, functional and adaptive features never seen before. Eyes to see with come to mind, and wings to fly with; so do the seeds of flowering plants, the intricate cilia that move eukaryotic cells, and a thousand others. How do innovations arise? This is the question addressed in this book, and there can be few issues more crucial to our understanding of evolution.The conventional answer was formulated seventy years ago as part of the Modern Synthesis, which melded Darwin's insights from natural history with the rising science of population genetics. It invokes a static genome composed of discrete heritable genes that are subject to variation by mutation and other accidents; the variations are then culled by natural selection, with the result that adaptation of the organism improves. Evolution takes place slowly and gradually, by small random steps. The fossil record displays many instances, the classic one being the... Read more
59 of 67 people found the following review helpful
Evolution: The Untold Story, By
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This review is from: Evolution: A View from the 21st Century (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)
"Evolution: A View from the 21st Century" is the first book with an accurate depiction of evolutionary processes. To my knowledge, it has not been possible to buy a book that gave you the whole story. Most mechanisms described here were first discovered decades ago. Yet until now, few people knew anything about them.This book describes: -"Natural Genetic Engineering" refers to cells' innate ability to re-organize their genomes in response to hundreds of kinds of inputs. This is the star of the show. Not natural selection. -Horizontal Gene Transfer, cells exchanging segments of DNA to instantly gain new features; -Inter-species hybridization - new species form when unlikely mates cross from two different species; -Symbiogenesis, when separate organisms physically merge to form a new species; -Epigenetics, shaping heredity without altering the DNA sequence; -Whole Genome Duplication - DNA doubling to expand... Read more
18 of 20 people found the following review helpful
Excellent summary of our understanding of evolutionary mechanism, and a manifesto for future researchs, By
This review is from: Evolution: A View from the 21st Century (FT Press Science) (Hardcover)
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There have been four major revolutions in the understanding of inheritance and evolution: First, the Mendelian revolution, which explained how characteristics of organisms might be passed on to successive generations. Second, the Darwinian, which described the process of speciation, and the idea of selection within a gene pool. Third was the discovery of DNA, and unless you're a biologist, that's probably as far as your knowledge goes.But in the years since Watson's and Crick's description of the double helix of DNA have seen an explosion in the understanding of genetics and evolution that is perhaps even more far reaching than the three previous revolutions combined. The idea of gradual evolution, with natural selection paring away at a set of random mutations has been overthrown in favor of a much more active, one might almost say goal-seeking mechanism, in which organisms play an active role in shaping their evolution. Consider the case of drug immunity in... Read more |
Online Sample Chapter
Introduction: Taking a Fresh Look at the Basics of Evolution in the New Century
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments xiii
About the Author xv
A Note on Reading This Book for Individuals with Different Backgrounds xvii
Introduction: Taking a Fresh Look at the Basics of Evolution in the New Century 1
Part I: Sensing, Signaling, and Decision-Making in Cell Reproduction 7
Part II: The Genome as a Read-Write (RW) Storage System 27
Part III: Evolutionary Lessons from Molecular Genetics and Genome Sequencing 89
Part IV: A New Conceptual Basis for Evolutionary Research in the 21st Century 127
Glossary 149
References 175
Index 241
The following material can be found online only (www.ftpress.com/shapiro):
Appendixes to Part I and Part II of the Printed Book
Table References for Part II and Part III of the Printed Book
Suggested Readings for Non-Professionals
References for the Printed Book
Book
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