This book is the study of all codes of life with the standard methods of science. The genetic code and the codes of culture have been known for a long time and represent the historical foundation of this book. What is really new in this field is the study of all codes that came after the genetic code and before the codes of culture. The existence of these organic codes, however, is not only a major experimental fact. It is one of those facts that have extraordinary theoretical implications. The first is that most events of macroevolution were associated with the origin of new organic codes, and this gives us a completely new reconstruction of the history of life. The second implication is that codes involve meaning and we need therefore to introduce in biology not only the concept of information but also the concept of biological meaning. The third theoretical implication comes from the fact that the organic codes have been highly conserved in evolution, which means that they are the greatest invariants of life. The study of the organic codes, in short, is bringing to light new mechanisms that have operated in the history of life and new fundamental concepts in biology.
The genetic code appeared on Earth with the first cells. The codes of cultural evolution arrived almost four billion years later. These are the only codes that are recognized by modern biology. In this book, however, Marcello Barbieri explains that there are many more organic codes in nature, and their appearance not only took place throughout the history of life but marked the major steps of that history. A code establishes a correspondence between two independent 'worlds', and the codemaker is a third party between those 'worlds'. Therefore the cell can be thought of as a trinity of genotype, phenotype and ribotype. The ancestral ribotypes were the agents which gave rise to the first cells. The book goes on to explain how organic codes and organic memories can be used to shed new light on the problems encountered in cell signalling, epigenesis, embryonic development, and the evolution of language.
Biology for AP® courses covers the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester Advanced Placement® biology course. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology for AP® Courses was designed to meet and exceed the requirements of the College Board’s AP® Biology framework while allowing significant flexibility for instructors. Each section of the book includes an introduction based on the AP® curriculum and includes rich features that engage students in scientific practice and AP® test preparation; it also highlights careers and research opportunities in biological sciences.
Glycome: The Hidden Code in BiologyDescription: "Glycome: The Hidden Code in Biology" addresses one of the most fundamental questions in biology today. The book targets readers with little expertise as well as the experts in Glycoscience. Sugars are electroneutral. However, linking sugars to sugars, or attaching sugars to proteins or lipids changes the structural and functional identities of the glycoconjugate, and enables to form cellular networks of 4Gs [i.e., glycoproteins (N-linked or O-linked), glycosphingolipids, proteoglycans and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs)]. These glycans (i) support growth, proliferation and differentiation of cells and tissues; (ii) protect cells from foreign invasions including bacteria, viruses, parasites as well as from changes in the extracellular environment; (iii) act as biomarkers and participate in transmembrane signaling. The glycans are not ubiquitous but they are tissue/species specific.Structurally, the glycans are diverse, and form linear to highly branched structures. This diversity is present not only across the species but also within cells of the same species, i.e., the glycoforms. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometric (MS) studies (i.e., Glycomics) have evaluated and contributed significantly in delineating the structural diversity of glycans. Glycomics, in fact, has helped in overcoming many earlier technological barriers which were otherwise very laborious and time consuming. Plant lectins being carbohydrate binding proteins with a high degree of sugar specificity have been useful tools to characterize the carbohydrate structures they recognize. The glycan structures complement their biosynthetic processes. Because of the highly compartmentalized nature of the process, the glycans move between compartments during their assembly. This is believed to be mediated by vesicular structures but the participation of exosomes cannot be ruled out. A large number of genetic disorders [gangliosidosis, mucopolysaccharidoses, congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDG)] are due to abnormal glycan synthesis or degradation. Disproportionate expression of glycans is also found in diseases like cancer, neurological disorders, diabetes, metabolic syndromes, and infection. This raises questions about the regulatory principle(s) in glycan biosynthesis. There is no template for glycan chain synthesis, elongation, processing or termination. The cells/tissues follow a highly conserved mechanism. The assumption is glycosylation uses donor and acceptor interactions as the driving force. Increased or decreased synthesis of glycans in response to the environmental change influence cell function, i.e., growth, survival or death favor of a "push-pull" hypothesis. In the absence of a genetic code for sugars, the assembly as well as the processing of glycan chains are controlled by the Glycome. Unlike the genome, the Glycome is hidden for the normal eye but its communication skills with the cellular microenvironment and genome for glycan synthesis and degradation are enormous. Seventeen chapters in the book are dedicated to walk the readers through the diversities of the Glycome. The authors have used mammalian, microbial and plant systems to achieve the desired goal.
This is a detailed history of one of the most important and dramatic episodes in modern science, recounted from the novel vantage point of the dawn of the information age and its impact on representations of nature, heredity, and society. Drawing on archives, published sources, and interviews, the author situates work on the genetic code (1953-70) within the history of life science, the rise of communication technosciences (cybernetics, information theory, and computers), the intersection of molecular biology with cryptanalysis and linguistics, and the social history of postwar Europe and the United States. Kay draws out the historical specificity in the process by which the central biological problem of DNA-based protein synthesis came to be metaphorically represented as an information code and a writing technologyand consequently as a book of life. This molecular writing and reading is part of the cultural production of the Nuclear Age, its power amplified by the centuries-old theistic resonance of the book of life metaphor. Yet, as the author points out, these are just metaphors: analogies, not ontologies. Necessary and productive as they have been, they have their epistemological limitations. Deploying analyses of language, cryptology, and information theory, the author persuasively argues that, technically speaking, the genetic code is not a code, DNA is not a language, and the genome is not an information system (objections voiced by experts as early as the 1950s). Thus her historical reconstruction and analyses also serve as a critique of the new genomic biopower. Genomic textuality has become a fact of life, a metaphor literalized, she claims, as human genome projects promise new levels of control over life through the meta-level of information: control of the word (the DNA sequences) and its editing and rewriting. But the author shows how the humbling limits of these scriptural metaphors also pose a challenge to the textual and material mastery of the genomic book of life.
"Yet another cell and molecular biology book? At the very least, you would think that if I was going to write a textbook, I should write one in an area that really needs one instead of a subject that already has multiple excellent and definitive books. So, why write this book, then? First, it's a course that I have enjoyed teaching for many years, so I am very familiar with what a student really needs to take away from this class within the time constraints of a semester. Second, because it is a course that many students take, there is a greater opportunity to make an impact on more students' pocketbooks than if I were to start off writing a book for a highly specialized upper- level course. And finally, it was fun to research and write, and can be revised easily for inclusion as part of our next textbook, High School Biology."--Open Textbook Library.
This book "combines a succinct, beautifully illustrated 12-chapter textbook with engaging MasteringBiology assignment options. The Core delivers a uniquely flexible teaching and learning package that supports Active Learning or “Flipped Classroom” teaching techniques, and an emphasis on current issues that relate to basic biological concepts. The Second Edition text and MasteringBiology assignment options further revolutionize teaching in and out of the classroom with a greater emphasis on the nature of science and dozens of new opportunities for students to practice basic science literacy skills. The Core’s concise modules continue to focus students’ attention on the most important concepts, combining dynamic figures and illustrations with supporting narrative as the primary source of instruction to create a more engaging and accessible learning experience for students."--
