Why Dna? - From Dna Sequence to Biological Complexity

Describes how the physical chemistry of the DNA molecule links biological complexity, information flux and evolution to energy.

List of contents

Acknowledgements; Preface; 1. The perennial question; 2. The nature of information - information, complexity and entropy; 3. DNA - the molecule; 4. The evolution of biological complexity; 5. Cooperating genomes; 6. DNA, information and complexity; 7. Origins; 8. The complexity of societies; 9. Why DNA - and not RNA?; General reading and bibliography.

About the author

Andrew Travers is an Emeritus Scientist at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB) and a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the use of the genetics and biochemistry of bacteria and Drosophila to study the mechanisms of chromatin folding and unfolding. He started his academic career at the MRC LMB before spending two years as a post-doc in Jim Watson's lab at Harvard University, where he co-discovered the first of the RNA polymerase sigma factors.

Summary

Describes how the physical chemistry of the DNA molecule links biological complexity, information flux and evolution to energy. Revisits Schrödinger's What is Life? published before the structure of DNA was known, and examines Schrödinger's ideas in the context of our current biological understanding.

Product details

• Authors: Andrew Travers, Andrew (University of Cambridge) Travers, Travers Andrew
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.07.2021
• EAN: 9781107697522
• ISBN: 978-1-107-69752-2
• No. of pages: 222
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Social sciences, law, business > Media, communication > Communication science; Evolution, PHYSIOLOGY, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics, biochemistry, molecular biology, Biophysics, Information theory, Genetics (non-medical), Dna & Genome, Computational biology / bioinformatics, Evolution / Evolutionary biology