1. The origins of twenty-first-century biology
Plants, animals, and cells
Cell biology and medicine
Evolution, genetics, and mathematics
The failed marriage between evolution and sociology
Cell biology, chemistry, and genes
Physics, chemistry, and genetics
Genetics, embryology, and evolution
The rise of genetic engineering
2. Literature, culture, and social perceptions of science
Frankenstein : or, The modern Prometheus
Evolution, religion, and schools
Eugenics and Brave new world
The shape of humans to come
the transhumans of Patricia Piccinini
Silent spring and the rise of environmental movements
Genetically modified crops and the marketing of science
Cloned dinosaurs and invaders from space
3. Studying life in the post-genome era
Biodiversity and metagenomics
Metagenomics, extremophiles, and the search for extraterrestrial life
Imaging molecules within living cells
4. The future of humanity and the world
Designer babies and post-human future
Curing brain diseases and the new pharmacology
Cure from shamans and traditional healers
Consciousness and the brain
The quest for eternal youth and immortality
Saving the world : ants, humans, and the fate of the Earth
