Sex and the origins of death [[electronic resource] /] / William R. Clark ; [illustrations by Celine Park]

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910449945403321
• Autore: Clark William R. <1938->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New York, : Oxford University Press, 1996
• ISBN: 0-19-802660-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (205 p.)
• Disciplina: 571.936; 574.87/65
• Soggetti: Cell death; Death (Biology); Apoptosis; Sex (Biology); Electronic books.
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-185) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Contents; Prologue; 1. Death of a Cell; 2. A Second Face of Death; 3. Sex, Segregation, and the Origins of Cellular Death; 4. From Sex to Death: The Puzzle of Senescence; 5. A Hierarchy of Cells: The Definition of Brain Death; 6. Standing at the Abyss: Viruses, Spores and the Meaning of Life; 7. Coming to Closure; Epilogue; Further Reading; Index; A; B; C; D; E; F; G; H; I; K; L; M; N; O; P; Q; R; S; T; U; V; W; Z
• Sommario/riassunto: Death, for bacteria, is not inevitable. Protect a bacterium from predators, and provide it with adequate food and space to grow, and it would continue living--and reproducing asexually--forever. But a paramecium (a slightly more advanced single-cell organism), under the same ideal conditions, would stop dividing after about 200 generations--and die. Death, for paramecia and their offspring, is inevitable. Unless they have sex ... In Sex and the Origins of Death, William Clark ranges far and wide over fascinating terrain. Whether describing a 62-year-old man having a ma