- First book to be written on the major transitions in evolution
- Interdisciplinary, drawing on fields as diverse as molecular biology, linguistics, embryology, and population genetics
- Accessible to anyone with an undergraduate training in the biological sciences ...MORE ⇓
- First book to be written on the major transitions in evolution
- Interdisciplinary, drawing on fields as diverse as molecular biology, linguistics, embryology, and population genetics
- Accessible to anyone with an undergraduate training in the biological sciences
- Written by leading theoretical biologists
During evolution there have been several major changes in the way genetic information is organized and transmitted from one generation to the next. These transitions include the origin of life itself, the first eukaryotic cells, reproduction by sexual means, the appearance of multicellular plants and animals, the emergence of cooperation and of animal societies. This is the first book to discuss all these major transitions and their implications for our understanding of evolution. Clearly written and illustrated with many original diagrams, this book will be welcomed by students and researchers in the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, and genetics.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Introduction
2 What is Life?
3 Chemical evolution
4 The evolution of templates
5 The chicken and egg problem
6 The origin of translation and the genetic code
7 The origin of protocells
8 The origin of eukaryotes
9 The origin of sex and the nature of species
10 Intragenomic conflict
11 Symbiosis
12 Development in simple organisms
13 Gene regulation and cell heredity
14 The development of spatial patterns
15 Development and evolution
16 The origins of societies
17 The origins of language