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The Implicit Genome

AUTHOR Caporale, Lynn Helena; Caporale, Lynn; Caporale, Lynn Helena
PUBLISHER Oxford University Press (02/02/2006)
PRODUCT TYPE Paperback (Paperback)

Description
For over half a century, we have been in the thrall of the double-helicaln structure of DNA, which, in an instant, revealed that information can be transferred between generations by a simple rule, A pairs with T, G pairs with C. In its beautiful simplicity, this structure, along with the table of codons worked out in the following decade, had entranced us into believing that we can fully understand the information content of a DNA sequence, simply by treating it as text that is read in a linear fashion. While we have learned much based on this assumption, there is much we have missed. Far from a passive tape running through a reader, genomes contain information that appears in new forms which create regions with distinct behavior. Some are "gene rich", some mobile, some full of repeats and duplications, some sticking together across long evolutionary distances, some readily breaking apart in tumor cells. Even protein-coding regions can carry additional information, taking advantage of the flexible coding options provided by the degeneracy of the genetic code. The chapters in this volume touch on one or more of three interconnected themes; information can be implied, rather than explicit, in a genome; information can lead to focused and/or regulated changes in nucleotide sequences; information that affects the probability of distinct classes of mutation has implications for evolutionary theory.
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Product Format
Product Details
ISBN-13: 9780195172713
ISBN-10: 019517271X
Binding: Paperback or Softback (Trade Paperback (Us))
Content Language: English
More Product Details
Page Count: 400
Carton Quantity: 22
Product Dimensions: 6.35 x 0.73 x 9.17 inches
Weight: 1.28 pound(s)
Feature Codes: Bibliography, Index, Illustrated
Country of Origin: GB
Subject Information
BISAC Categories
Science | Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics
Science | Life Sciences - Molecular Biology
Dewey Decimal: 572.838
Library of Congress Control Number: 2005011590
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
publisher marketing
For over half a century, we have been in the thrall of the double-helicaln structure of DNA, which, in an instant, revealed that information can be transferred between generations by a simple rule, A pairs with T, G pairs with C. In its beautiful simplicity, this structure, along with the table of codons worked out in the following decade, had entranced us into believing that we can fully understand the information content of a DNA sequence, simply by treating it as text that is read in a linear fashion. While we have learned much based on this assumption, there is much we have missed. Far from a passive tape running through a reader, genomes contain information that appears in new forms which create regions with distinct behavior. Some are "gene rich", some mobile, some full of repeats and duplications, some sticking together across long evolutionary distances, some readily breaking apart in tumor cells. Even protein-coding regions can carry additional information, taking advantage of the flexible coding options provided by the degeneracy of the genetic code. The chapters in this volume touch on one or more of three interconnected themes; information can be implied, rather than explicit, in a genome; information can lead to focused and/or regulated changes in nucleotide sequences; information that affects the probability of distinct classes of mutation has implications for evolutionary theory.
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Editor: Caporale, Lynn
Lynn Caporale received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California at Berkeley. After teaching and doing research at New York University, Memorial/Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Rockefeller University, and Georgetown University, she moved to Merck Research Laboratories, where she spent over a decade focused on the discovery of new medicines. Dr. Caporale has held research and senior executive positions with various biotechnology companies and in the pharmaceutical industry and currently is an independent consultant in drug discovery and functional genomics. She lives in New York City.
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Paperback