ENGLISH

So Simple a Beginning: How Four Physical Principles Shape Our Living World

By Raghuveer Parthasarathy

Book information

Publisher
Princeton University Press
Year
2022
ISBN
0691200408, 9780691200408
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
30 MB (31355130 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
336\337
Time added
2022-03-26 16:47:03
Life; DNA; Organisms

Description

A biophysicist reveals the hidden unity behind nature’s breathtaking complexity The form and function of a sprinting cheetah are quite unlike those of a rooted tree. A human being is very different from a bacterium or a zebra. The living world is a realm of dazzling variety, yet a shared set of physical principles shapes the forms and behaviors of every creature in it. So Simple a Beginning shows how the emerging new science of biophysics is transforming our understanding of life on Earth and enabling potentially lifesaving but controversial technologies such as gene editing, artificial organ growth, and ecosystem engineering. Raghuveer Parthasarathy explains how four basic principles―self-assembly, regulatory circuits, predictable randomness, and scaling―shape the machinery of life on scales ranging from microscopic molecules to gigantic elephants. He describes how biophysics is helping to unlock the secrets of a host of natural phenomena, such as how your limbs know to form at the proper places, and why humans need lungs but ants do not. Parthasarathy explores how the cutting-edge biotechnologies of tomorrow could enable us to alter living things in ways both subtle and profound. Featuring dozens of original watercolors and drawings by the author, this sweeping tour of biophysics offers astonishing new perspectives on how the wonders of life can arise from so simple a beginning. Cover Contents Introduction Part I: The Ingredients of Life 1. DNA: A Code and a Cord 2. Proteins: Molecular Origami 3. Genes and the Mechanics of DNA 4. The Choreography of Genes 5. Membranes: A Liquid Skin 6. Predictable Randomness Part II: Living Large 7. Assembling Embryos 8. Organs by Design 9. The Ecosystem inside You 10. A Sense of Scale 11. Life at the Surface 12. Mysteries of Size and Shape Part III: Organisms by Design 13. How We Read DNA 14. Genetic Combinations 15. How We Write DNA 16. Designing the Future Acknowledgments References Index

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