How did a young native of the American South, raised in an era of racism and segregation, rise to a highly decorated position at the forefront of molecular biology research? Up from Mississippi follows the remarkable career of James Darnell, a major player in some of the discoveries that illuminated our understanding of gene expression, paving the way for medical technologies—including some COVID-19 vaccines—based on messenger RNA. Darnell relates not only the circumstances and details of ...

Best-selling guide for over 25 years and an essential companion for students taking biology courses of any level, this six page guide is a must-have for reference throughout science courses as a serious study tool and quick refresher for the core concepts, terms, diagrams, cycles and stages in the study of life. Author, scientist, and university biology professor Randy Brooks, PhD has streamlined the complicated subject of biology by selecting the need-to-know answers that will boost test ...

When the woman he loved was diagnosed with a metastatic cancer, science writer George Johnson embarked on a journey to learn everything he could about the disease and the people who dedicate their lives to understanding and combating it. What he discovered is a revolution under way—an explosion of new ideas about what cancer really is and where it comes from. In a provocative and intellectually vibrant exploration, he takes us on an adventure through the history and recent advances of canc...

One of The Wall Street Journal’s 10 Best Nonfiction Books of the YearPhiladelphia, 1959: A scientist scrutinizing a single human cell under a microscope detects a missing piece of DNA. That scientist, David Hungerford, had no way of knowing that he had stumbled upon the starting point of modern cancer research— the Philadelphia chromosome. It would take doctors and researchers around the world more than three decades to unravel the implications of this lan...

“Venter instills awe for biology as it is, and as it might become in our hands.” —Publishers WeeklyOn May 20, 2010, headlines around the world announced one of the most extraordinary accomplishments in modern science: the creation of the world’s first synthetic lifeform. In Life at the Speed of Light, scientist J. Craig Venter, best known for sequencing the human genome, shares the dramatic account of how he led a team of researchers in this pione...

Cancer touches everybody's life in one way or another. But most of us know very little about how the disease works, why we treat it the way we do, and the personalities whose dedication got us where we are today. For fifty years, Dr. Vincent T. DeVita Jr. has been one of those key players: he has held just about every major position in the field, and he developed the first successful chemotherapy treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, a breakthrough the American Society of Clinical Oncologists ...

With genetics and genetic engineering receiving almost daily coverage in the media, this book is an introduction for general readers who wish to know more about a science that is changing our world. Starting with the history of genetics, from primitive breeding programmes to Mendel's Law, and moving on to a full explanation of genetics and its role in our future, this is a comprehensive survey of genetics past, present and future.

The definitive insider's history of the genetic revolution--significantly updated to reflect the discoveries of the last decade.James D. Watson, the Nobel laureate whose pioneering work helped unlock the mystery of DNA's structure, charts the greatest scientific journey of our time, from the discovery of the double helix to today's controversies to what the future may hold. Updated to include new findings in gene editing, epigenetics, agricultural chemistry, as wel...

An Amazon Best of the Month Book"For all the insight he offers into the hard science and thorny logistics of studying cancer, Dr. Scadden's most moving passages consider the effect of the disease on the people who suffer from it and those who care for them." — The Wall Street JournalA doctor's riveting story of loss and hope in the world of cancer.What is it like to encounter cancer? ...

All living things on Earth are composed of cells. A cell is the simplest unit of a self-contained living organism, and the vast majority of life on Earth consists of single-celled microbes, mostly bacteria. These consist of a simple 'prokaryotic' cell, with no nucleus. The bodies of more complex plants and animals consist of billions of 'eukaryotic' cells, of varying kinds, adapted to fill different roles - red blood cells, muscle cells, branched neurons. Each cell is an astonishingly comp...

The rollicking memoir from the cardiologist turned legendary scientist and winner of the Nobel Prize that revels in the joy of science and discovery.Like Richard Feynman in the field of physics, Dr. Robert Lefkowitz is also known for being a larger-than-life character: a not-immodest, often self-deprecating, always entertaining raconteur. Indeed, when he received the Nobel Prize, the press corps in Sweden covered him intensively, describing him as “the happiest Lau...

The triumphant memoir of the man behind one of the greatest feats in scientific historyOf all the scientific achievements of the past century, perhaps none can match the deciphering of the human genetic code, both for its technical brilliance and for its implications for our future. In A Life Decoded, J. Craig Venter traces his rise from an uninspired student to one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in science today. Here, Venter relates th...