Intro -- Becoming Immortal -- Contents -- Preface -- Prologue -- 1. Quo Vadis? -- WHY BECOME IMMORTAL? -- HAS LIFE CHANGED? -- "HELLO, DOLLY!" AND SALUTATIONS TO STEM CELLS -- WHY WE ARE NOT IMMORTAL OR WHAT IS LIFE ANYWAY? -- ACHIEVING IMMORTALITY THROUGH BIOTECHNOLOGY -- 2. Why Immortality Cannot Evolve -- WHERE DOES LONGEVITY COME FROM, AND WHY HAS EVOLUTION MADE US MORTAL RATHER THAN IMMORTAL? -- WHAT IS AN EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF LONGEVITY, AND WHY ARE THE PROSPECTS SO BLEAK FOR ACHIEVING IMMORTALITY THROUGH EVOLUTION? -- AFTERWORD: IMMORTALITY TRIUMPHANT! -- 3. Why Immortality Cannot Develop -- DEVELOPMENT'S "WHO, WHERE, WHAT, WHEN, HOW, AND WHY?" -- DEVELOPMENT ACCORDING TO EMBRYOLOGISTS AND DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGISTS -- CONCLUSIONS -- 4. Life's Fundamental Feature: Devolution -- GETTING DOWN TO BASICS: LIFE BEGINS -- AN INTRODUCTION TO DEVOLUTION -- THE DEVOLUTION OF EUCARYA -- THE DEVOLUTION OF SEX -- THE DEVOLUTION OF METAZOA -- THE DEVOLUTION OF LIFE HISTORIES -- THE DEVOLUTION OF DEATH -- CONCLUSIONS -- 5. Making Immortals: From Blastocyst to Generator -- TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT CLONING -- TAKING ANOTHER LOOK AT STEM CELLS -- MAKING IMMORTALS -- MAKING GENERATORS -- Epilogue: Reprise and Prediction -- PROSPECTS FOR IMMORTALIZATION -- ADJUSTMENTS REQUIRED BY IMMORTALIZATION |