Praise of chromosome "folly" [[electronic resource] ] : confessions of an untamed molecular structure / / Antonio Lima-de-Faria

• Autore: Lima-de-Faria A
• Pubblicazione: Singapore ; ; Hackensack, NJ, : World Scientific, c2008
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (428 p.)
• Disciplina: 572.8/7
• Soggetto topico: Chromosomes; Mutation (Biology); Genetics
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
• Nota di contenuto: To the Reader; References; Contents; Introductory Note; Part I The Source of "Folly" and the Reason for Confessions; 1. I am an Inconspicuous and Unattractive Creature Painted with Lipstick; 2. They Say That I Resemble a Sausage; 3. The Cell Is My Castle and Prison But I May Swim and Dance like an Odalisque in a Harem; 4. The Striptease Show - How I Dress and Undress at Every Cell Division; 5. I Have Created My Own Private World Full of Tricks, Back Door Exits and Novel Solutions - I am an Untamed Innovator ; 6. My Origins Were Humble - The Antithetical Nature of Matter Left a Mark on My Construction7. My Split Personality - The Source of "Folly"; 8. The Reason for Confessions; 9. I Have Been Abused and Covered With Insults; 10. The Wisdom of the Foolish; 11. Scientific Concepts Are Prone to Change Throughout Time - The Nature of Science Demands that Previous Ideas be Superseded, as New TechnologiesAllow a Deeper Insight into Matter ; 12. What Seems Ludicrous at a Given Time Turns Out to be the Correct Explanation Several Years Later. The Gene was Considered to Consist of Protein, But Is Now Known to be a Ribbon of DNA13. In the Last 20 Years the Number of Human Genes was Reduced from 200,000 to 32,000, and This Figure Remains Uncertain; 14. The Models of Chromosomes Have Varied Drastically with Time; References; Sources of Illustrations; Part II Who Cares for Gravity; 15. The Chromosome in Its Organization and Activity Follows Its Own Path - It Does Not Obey Gravity, Randomness, Selection or Magnetism ; 16. Definition of Gravity - Newton's Laws Are Good for Planets and Apples17. What Is a Force - The Four Fundamental Forces; 18. Newton's Laws Do Not Apply in Quantum Mechanics; 19. Not All Bodies Fall When Unsupported; 20. The Ascent of Sap in Trees-Another Unexplained Phenomenon; 21. An Unknown Process Decides Which Cells Are Going to Grow in the Direction of Gravity and Which Are Going to Counteract It; 22. Physicists Construct Antigravity Devices that Oblige Frogs and Plants to Float ; 23. Atoms Hide Many Properties that May Disclose the Mechanisms Behind Living Processes - Liquid Helium Can Build a Fountain Ejecting Itself Out of a Flask24. Levitation in Metals - What Was Impossible Became Possible; 25. Animals, like Plants, Have Created Devices that Counteract Gravity; 26. In Giraffes the Distance between the Heart and the Head Is Over Two Meters; 27. No Chromosome Obeys Newton's Laws - In Their Movements Chromosomes Bypass Gravity; 28. Chromosomes Move in All Directions of the Mariner's Compass ; 29. It Is the Programmed Pattern of the Organism that Decides the Direction of Movement
• Sommario/riassunto: When examined carefully at the molecular level, the chromosome turns out to have created its own private world full of tricks, back door exits and novel solutions. This "folly" makes it an untamed innovator. Geneticists have been bewildered for decades. What kind of creature was actually the chromosome? Was it plastic, changing by innumerous rearrangements and mutations all the time; or was it a rigid structure which has preserved its basic organisation and functions since the dawn of the cell? It is this conflicting state that seems to be at the base of its "folly". Perplexed by this behavior
• Titolo autorizzato: Praise of chromosome "folly"
• ISBN: 981-281-095-1
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Record Nr.: 9910778073903321
• Lo trovi qui: Univ. Federico II