Biology Genetics

Cheat death—or at least delay it—with this accessible look into the quest for immortality, and what it means for human civilization. Are humans close to living forever? With advances in medicine and new therapies that prolong life expectancy, we are on track to make aging even more...

A gripping narrative about the Zika virus from the New York Times science reporter covering the outbreak. Until recently, Zika virus—once considered a mild disease—was hardly a cause for global panic. But as early as August of 2015, doctors in Brazil’s northeast region began to notice a...

America's favorite doctors Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz cover pregnancy from conception to birth with the ins and outs of nutrition, exercise, hormones, fetal development, and many more pregnancy-related issues. Few life experiences feature emotional swings as extreme as those of...

Greg Bear’s Nebula Award–winning novel, Darwin’s Radio, painted a chilling portrait of humankind on the threshold of a radical leap in evolution. Now Bear continues his provocative tale of the human race confronted by an uncertain future, where “survival of the fittest” takes on...

‘What is it like to be a bat?’, the philosopher Thomas Nagel famously asked concerning consciousness. For biologist Martin Stevens, the question forms the starting point of an exploration of animal senses. In this enthralling account, we learn not only of the wonder of animal senses, but how they work and how scientists go about investigating them. And, throughout, we consider how these senses came to be.

In Unfit for Purpose, biologist and broadcaster Adam Hart explores the mismatch between our fundamental biology and the modern world we have created. In each chapter Adam reveals the many ways in which biological adaptations that evolved to help us survive and thrive now work against us. For example, in the modern world stress is a killer, but how did 'fight or flight' instincts turn from life-savers to life-takers? Obesity might be a disease now, but is it really just a troublesome side-effect of our complex evolutionary past?

Human beings have astonishing genetic vulnerabilities. More than half of us will die from complex diseases that trace directly to those vulnerabilities, and the modern world we've created places us at unprecedented risk from them. In It Takes a Genome, Greg Gibson posits a revolutionary new hypothesis: Our genome is out of equilibrium, both with itself and its environment. Simply put, our genes aren't coping well with modern culture.

From star-nosed moles that have super-sensing snouts to electric eels that paralyze their prey, animals possess unique and extraordinary abilities. In Great Adaptations, Kenneth Catania presents an entertaining and engaging look at some of nature's most remarkable creatures. Telling the story of his biological detective work, Catania sheds light on the mysteries behind the behaviors of tentacled snakes, tiny shrews, zombie-making wasps, and more.

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution now forms the basis for all the life sciences, but it ignited widespread controversy upon its 1859 publication. The idea that humans and animals might have evolved from a common source came as a shock to readers at the time, and people struggle with the implications of Darwin’s theory to this day. But Darwin foresaw this resistance and argued his case with extensive examples and rigorous logic - and his theory continues to push us toward a deeper understanding of life on Earth.

The Very Best of Charles Darwin comprises On the Origin of Species and The Voyage of the Beagle. The first introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection. The evidence was gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s, recounted in The Voyage of the Beagle, which is both a travel memoir and a scientific field journal of anthropological, biological, and geological interest.

On the Origin of Species (1859) by Charles Darwin is a work of scientific literature considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. The book introduced the theory that populations evolve over the course of generations through a process of natural selection, backed by a body of evidence that the diversity of life arose by common descent through a branching pattern of evolution. The evidence was gathered on the Beagle expedition in the 1830s and the author’s subsequent findings from research, correspondence, and experimentation.

With trusted expertise from Mayo Clinic, the Edge of Medicine series sets out to inspire and educate the next generation of young scientists by highlighting the medical breakthroughs of a diverse range of scientists and researchers. From the discovery of the double helix to mapping the human genome, this exploration of scientific inquiry celebrates the greatest developments to date in genetics. Get to know the physicians, scientists, and other researchers responsible for these breakthroughs in medicine, and explore the ups, the downs, and the eureka moments that are science in action.

A professor, biologist, and physiologist argues that modern Darwinism's materialist and mechanistic biases have led to a scientific dead end, unable to define what life is - and only an openness to the qualities of "purpose and desire" will move the field forward. J. Scott Turner contends, "To be scientists, we force ourselves into a Hobson's choice on the matter: accept intentionality and purposefulness as real attributes of life, which disqualifies you as a scientist; or become a scientist and dismiss life's distinctive quality from your thinking."

Werner Ernst, a second-year medical resident, encounters the stark realities of the modern intensive care unit, the fears and illusions of the loved ones of the terminally ill, and the exhaustion and irony of doctors, nurses, and technicians...

A sweeping, paradigm-shifting account of how evolution is no longer driven just by nature but also by human choices Why are conditions like autism, asthma, obesity, and allergies exploding at unprecedented rates? Why are we living longer, getting smarter, having far fewer kids? If Darwin was...

Laurence Gonzales’s electrifying adventure opens in the jungles of the Congo. Jenny Lowe, a primatologist studying chimpanzees—the bonobos—is running for her life. A civil war has exploded and Jenny is trapped in its crosshairs . . . She runs to the camp of a fellow primatologist. The...

The long-awaited story of the science, the business, the politics, the intrigue behind the scenes of the most ferocious competition in the history of modern science—the race to map the human genome. On May 10, 1998, biologist Craig Venter, director of the Institute for Genomic Research...

Dieses Hörbuch macht die komplexe Entstehung des Lebens auf unserem Planeten erstmals für alle verständlich. Dabei stand das Leben auf der Erde schon mehrfach kurz vor der Auslöschung. Es gab zwei Millionen Jahre dauernde Vulkanausbrüche und mehrfach schwere Asteroideneinschläge. Katastrophen, ohne die allerdings etwa die Ausbreitung der Säugetiere nicht möglich gewesen wäre. Henry Gee schildert unterhaltsam und anschaulich, wie sich das Leben immer wieder durchsetzte.

Few of us know much about the biology of sex determination, but what could be more interesting than to discover how we are shaped into males and females? In this book, Elof Carlson tells the incredible story of the difficult quest to understand how the body forms girls and boys. Carlson's history takes us from antiquity to the present day to detail how each component of human reproduction and sexuality was identified and studied....

Biologist Rob Dunn reveals the crucial influence that other species have upon our health, our well-being, and our world in The Wild Life of Our Bodies - a tour through the hidden truths of nature and codependence. Dunn illuminates the nuanced relationships that exist between homo sapiens and other species, relationships that underpin humanity's ability to thrive and prosper in every circumstance. Fans of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma will be enthralled by Dunn's powerful, lucid exploration of the role that humankind plays within the greater web of life on Earth.