The Mysterious World of the Human Genome

The Mysterious World of the Human Genome
Frank Ryan

How could a relatively simple chemical code give rise to the complexity of a human being? How could our human genome have evolved? And how does it actually work?Over the past 50 years we have deciphered the inner workings of the human genome. From the basic structure of DNA through to the complete sequence of the code, what first appeared to be simple is actually a complex and beautiful three-dimensional world that makes each of us who we are.In The Mysterious World of the Human Genome acclaimed science writer Frank Ryan leads us through the most exciting scientific discoveries of the last 50 years, revealing how this science has unlocked the cure of some genetic diseases, developed the use of DNA in forensic science and paternity testing, helped us trace our ancestors and provided a definitive map for the movement of humans out of Africa. This scientific journey has had a profound impact on our understanding of the evolution of life itself, through the role of the most ancient of organisms in our basic biology all the way to the revelation that our most recent ancestor, Homo neanderthalensis, lives on in many of us.In the ever more complicated world of the human genome, this is the first book to explain how the human genome actually works as a whole and how that knowledge will have a profound effect on our understanding of where we have come from and where we are likely to be going in the future.

Copyright (#u3cc4e59e-fbac-50eb-b189-73362bd481d1)

William Collins

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This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2015.

Text © FPR-Books Ltd 2015

Diagrams by Mark Salwowski

Frank Ryan asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover design by Jo Walker

Cover design © HarperCollinsPublishers 2015

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Source ISBN: 9780007549061

eBook Edition © June 2015 ISBN: 9780007549078

Version: 2016-03-02

Dedication (#u3cc4e59e-fbac-50eb-b189-73362bd481d1)

To Oswald T. Avery

Possibly I am a scientist because I was curious when I was young. I can remember being ten, eleven, twelve years old and asking, ‘Now why is that? Why do I see such a peculiar phenomenon? I would like to understand that.’

LINUS PAULING

Table of Contents

Cover (#u3af8175c-f258-5aef-b829-c7a1ebaacaf9)

Title Page (#ub5818fc8-1cfc-5065-b3d3-5c502ebf4ddd)

Copyright (#ue1d03a02-d5fb-5bb0-bc5e-8a44f220831e)

Dedication (#uad5cd499-705e-5b89-8db7-4bf4bdb35f4c)

Epigraph (#u4d5d602f-7992-5f18-b605-bfe44bdd4227)

Introduction (#u2416afec-85a4-5d0c-8645-3951116e978d)

Chapter One: Who Could Have Guessed It? (#u05e980ed-4d22-5d4a-8297-9b81da3b9238)

Chapter Two: Dna Is Confirmed as the Code (#u888a0706-a215-5ddb-b81a-cf7ffb4bafe5)

Chapter Three: The Story in the Picture (#ub36631bd-86c2-521b-aaeb-2af0e5d50298)

Chapter Four: A Couple of Misfits (#u81b62540-240a-52ea-91b6-64747f7b3270)

Chapter Five: The Secret of Life (#u4e6ea3b3-7aa6-5680-ae66-ab331263e1d9)

Chapter Six: The Sister Molecule (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven: The Logical Next Step (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight: First Draft of the Human Genome (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine: How Heredity Changes (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten: The Advantage of Living Together (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven: The Viruses That Are Part of Us (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve: Genomic Level Evolution (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen: The Master Controllers (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen: Our History Preserved in Our Dna (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen: Our More Distant Ancestors (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen: The Great Wilderness of Prehistory (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen: Our Human Relatives (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen: The Fate of the Neanderthals (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen: What Makes You Unique (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty: The Fifth Element (#litres_trial_promo)