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- catalog abstract ""The genetic age is upon us, yet most people have only a limited understanding of the wondrous chemical that encodes the formula for all living things. As DNA's secrets are revealed, they must be rescued from the obscuring language of science, and now Signs of Life does just that. Borrowing from the humanities, Robert Pollack offers an entirely fresh perspective: DNA, he argues, should be seen as a great work of natural literature, a three-billion-year-old, continuously evolving text." "An award-winning scientist and teacher, Pollack displays both a sophisticated understanding of biology and a remarkable gift for metaphor. In elegant prose, he shows precisely how DNA provides the instruction book for life. He takes us deep inside a living cell - a teeming walled city - and explains how the genetic script at its heart governs all its operations. He opens the book containing the human genome and lucidly reveals the process by which biologists and physicians have begun to read its words and sentences." "But the frontier of genetics now extends into troubling territory. Pollack identifies several areas of concern: the ambitious but flawed Human Genome Project, the widespread access to individual genetic data, the temptation to manipulate genetic codes to make them "better." Given our still-crude ability to interpret these living texts, our eagerness to rewrite them is alarming. The power to change the human genome brings with it enormous responsibilities, and Pollack offers persuasive evidence that if we fail to achieve a fuller understanding of the multiple meanings of DNA, we risk disaster." "Signs of Life is both a brilliant illumination of a biological text and a provocative meditation on our awesome new ability to alter it. With the grace of a born writer and teacher, Robert Pollack has written a book that will change the way people think about science, genetics, and the future of our species."--Jacket.".
- catalog contributor b5569785.
- catalog created "1994.".
- catalog date "1994".
- catalog date "1994.".
- catalog dateCopyrighted "1994.".
- catalog description ""The genetic age is upon us, yet most people have only a limited understanding of the wondrous chemical that encodes the formula for all living things. As DNA's secrets are revealed, they must be rescued from the obscuring language of science, and now Signs of Life does just that. Borrowing from the humanities, Robert Pollack offers an entirely fresh perspective: DNA, he argues, should be seen as a great work of natural literature, a three-billion-year-old, continuously evolving text." "An award-winning scientist and teacher, Pollack displays both a sophisticated understanding of biology and a remarkable gift for metaphor. In elegant prose, he shows precisely how DNA provides the instruction book for life. He takes us deep inside a living cell - a teeming walled city - and explains how the genetic script at its heart governs all its operations. He opens the book containing the human genome and lucidly reveals the process by which biologists and physicians have begun to read its words and sentences." "But the frontier of genetics now extends into troubling territory. Pollack identifies several areas of concern: the ambitious but flawed Human Genome Project, the widespread access to individual genetic data, the temptation to manipulate genetic codes to make them "better." Given our still-crude ability to interpret these living texts, our eagerness to rewrite them is alarming. The power to change the human genome brings with it enormous responsibilities, and Pollack offers persuasive evidence that if we fail to achieve a fuller understanding of the multiple meanings of DNA, we risk disaster." "Signs of Life is both a brilliant illumination of a biological text and a provocative meditation on our awesome new ability to alter it. With the grace of a born writer and teacher, Robert Pollack has written a book that will change the way people think about science, genetics, and the future of our species."--Jacket.".
- catalog description "Includes bibliographical references and index.".
- catalog description "Invisible cities and crystalline books -- Chromosomes and canons -- Sentences, sculptures, and the ambiguities of translation -- The molecular word processor -- Texts, contexts, and the transgenic stage -- Between physics and history: the new paradigm of biology.".
- catalog extent "212 p. ;".
- catalog hasFormat "Signs of life.".
- catalog identifier "0395644984".
- catalog isFormatOf "Signs of life.".
- catalog issued "1994".
- catalog issued "1994.".
- catalog language "eng".
- catalog publisher "Boston : Houghton Mifflin,".
- catalog relation "Signs of life.".
- catalog subject "575.1 20".
- catalog subject "DNA Popular Works.".
- catalog subject "DNA Popular works.".
- catalog subject "Genetics Popular works.".
- catalog subject "QH437 .P65 1994".
- catalog subject "QU 58 P771s 1994".
- catalog tableOfContents "Invisible cities and crystalline books -- Chromosomes and canons -- Sentences, sculptures, and the ambiguities of translation -- The molecular word processor -- Texts, contexts, and the transgenic stage -- Between physics and history: the new paradigm of biology.".
- catalog title "Signs of life : the language and meanings of DNA / Robert Pollack.".
- catalog type "Popular works. fast".
- catalog type "text".