So simple a beginning: how four physical principles shape our living world

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Princeton University Press
Publication Date
[2022]
Language
English

Description

A biophysicist reveals the hidden unity behind nature’s breathtaking complexityThe form and function of a sprinting cheetah are quite unlike those of a rooted tree. A human being is very different from a bacterium or a zebra. The living world is a realm of dazzling variety, yet a shared set of physical principles shapes the forms and behaviors of every creature in it. So Simple a Beginning shows how the emerging new science of biophysics is transforming our understanding of life on Earth and enabling potentially lifesaving but controversial technologies such as gene editing, artificial organ growth, and ecosystem engineering.Raghuveer Parthasarathy explains how four basic principles—self-assembly, regulatory circuits, predictable randomness, and scaling—shape the machinery of life on scales ranging from microscopic molecules to gigantic elephants. He describes how biophysics is helping to unlock the secrets of a host of natural phenomena, such as how your limbs know to form at the proper places, and why humans need lungs but ants do not. Parthasarathy explores how the cutting-edge biotechnologies of tomorrow could enable us to alter living things in ways both subtle and profound.Featuring dozens of original watercolors and drawings by the author, this sweeping tour of biophysics offers astonishing new perspectives on how the wonders of life can arise from so simple a beginning.

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ISBN
9780691200408

Table of Contents

From the Book

Part I: The ingredients of life. DNA: a code and a cord
Proteins: molecular oragami
Genes and the mechanics of DNA
The choreography of genes
Membranes: a liquid skin
Predictable randomness
Part II: Living large. Assembling embryos
Organs by design
The ecosystem inside you
A sense of scale
Life at the surface
Mysteries of size and shape
Part III: Organisms by design. How we read DNA
Genetic combinations
How we write DNA
Designing the future.

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Published Reviews

Choice Review

Although this book's title suggests a narrative beginning in the distant past, referencing both the history of life and development of the concept of the beginnings of life, readers learn that nothing could be simpler while at the same time being more complex. The author's style is mostly captivating, and the illustrations provide unique support--most are executed by Parthasarathy (Univ. of Oregon) himself. The text begins with the familiar and becomes progressively more complex and intellectually demanding as the author explores the interplay of biological and physical processes. An important theme is the epigenetic effect of events on biological development, as the author suggests, for example, how the results of COVID-19 could be expressed in the future. Parthasarathy combines current science with hypothetical glances at the future, with the important caution that the future cannot simply be predicted. As he includes discussion of the conceptual basis of genetic modification of embryos, gaining desirable traits and eliminating undesirable ones, treatment of related ethical issues becomes prominent at points. Covering all this ground, the text is occasionally a tedious read but well worth the effort. Parthasarathy's commitment regarding the importance of education about scientific discovery and its place in today's world is evident throughout. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Francis W. Yow, emeritus, Kenyon College

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