With the recent biomedical discovery on the human genome, what lies in store for new medicine? In LIFE SCRIPT, Nicholas Wade claims that medicine is still in its dark age. We think of our medicine as sophisticated but a few decades from now much of it may be regarded with the same horror as we view the barber-surgeons of the 18th century. But with the human genome now in hand, we can begin to lay the foundation for understanding the body. Decoding genomic information is leading to a revolution -- the genome and new cell biology will create the basis for a new medicine. Consider a new way of healing the body: instead of cutting the flesh with scalpels, poisoning it with chemical drugs or burning it with radiation, the physician would gently treat the body with nothing but cells and proteins, seeking to mend like with like; instead of depending only on his own knowledge, the physician would seek to tap the information in the genome, and to exploit the fact that the body's cells are designed to be a self-assembling system, when given the right signals. LIFE SCRIPT will explore how we will be affected, from the benefits of cancer treatments and immunisation to the grey moral areas of genetic engineering and longevity. Possession of the genome, states Wade, is a loss of innocence, in that it puts an unprecedented kind of power into our hands; sooner or later we will have to choose whether to use it, and to what end.

Recent years have seen several fascinating Australian autobiographies and there are, of course, a number of excellent general texts on today's environmental problems, though few of them focus on the Australian scene. What Graham Chittleborough has done in masterly fashion is to combine the two genres and garnish the whole with piquant experiences of Australian politics and bureaucracy. This is a striking account both of his life as an ecologist and of what the lives of our grandchildren may prove to be unless we mend our environmental ways. His focus is Australia but his reach is global and there are few parts of the world and few environmental problems left unvisited. No mere cassandra, he proposes remedies as well as sounds warnings, and with it all he is as entertaining as he is instructive.

The twelfth edition of this classic dictionary, first published eighty years ago, has been updated throughout, rewritten for clarity and reorganised to make it even easier to use.* over 23,000 entries* comprehensive coverage of all major fields in biology * includes acronyms and abbreviations, now included in the main text for easier access* includes new terms that have come into use since the last edition, e.g. aptamer, archaeon, bioinformatics, DNA vaccine, genomics, proteomics, quasi-species, xenotransplantation* improved coverage of ecology and updated classification tables* extra diagrams and chemical formula incorporated in the main textHenderson's Dictionary of Biological Terms continues to provide an essential reference for students of any of the biological sciences and for teachers and researchers.Eleanor Lawrence is a freelance science writer and editor, and co-author of the Longman Dictionary of Environmental Science.

"Through tales of scientific discovery, personal case studies, engaging histories, and careful scrutiny of both the facts and misconceptions behind the headlines, the authors explore the ethical and political challenges presented by the power of this new science. A companion to the acclaimed 8-part PBS television series, their book expands on the issues presented in the series while retaining its accessible style. In an age when science informs the most personal choices in our lives, The Secret of Life prepares readers to act as knowledgeable citizens in debates that demand the widest possible participation."--BOOK JACKET.

Analyse van het bestaan van de mens vanuit een combinatie van psychologie, evolutiebiologie en neuro-anatomie.