As genetics becomes increasingly important in our everyday environment, misinterpretation of its scientific foundation leads to mixed feelings of hope and fear about the potential of its applications. Trajectories of Genetics uncovers the many facets of genetics - from humans to animals, plants, and the microscopic world through more than a century of scientific progress. It summarizes the evolution of ideas as the organization and functioning of genetic material has become clearer. The book analyzes how genetic information transmitted from generation to generation in nucleic acids enables the fulfillment of biological functions and the evolution of the living world. It illustrates current developments in many areas: the improvement of species of agronomic interest, an increased understanding of microbial worlds, the management of genetic pathologies and the synthesis of new forms of life.

This book explores the answers to fundamental questions about the human mind and human behaviour with the help of two ancient texts. The first is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) by Sophocles, written in the 5th century BCE. The second is human DNA, with its origins around 4 billion years ago, and continuously revised by chance and evolution. With Sophocles as a guide, the authors take a journey into the Genomic era, an age marked by ever-expanding insights into the human genome. Over the course of this journey, the book explores themes of free will, fate, and chance; prediction, misinterpretation, and the burden that comes with knowledge of the future; self-fulfilling and self-defeating prophecies; the forces that contribute to similarities and differences among people; roots and lineage; and the judgement of oneself and others. Using Oedipus Rex as its lens, this novel work provides an engaging overview of behavioural genetics that demonstrates its relevance across the humanities and the social and life sciences. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of genetics, education, psychology, sociology, and law.

P. Berthold and E. Gwinnd Bird migration is an intriguing aspect of the living world - so much so that it has been investigated for as long, and as thoroughly, as almost any other natural phenomenon. Aristotle, who can count as the founder of scientific ornithology, paid very close attention to the migrations of the birds he ob served, but it was not until the reign of Friedrich II, in the first half of the 13th century, that reliable data began to be obtained. From then on, the data base grew rapidly. Systematic studies of bird migration were introduced when the Vogelwarte Rossitten was founded, as the first ornithological biological observation station in the world (see first chapter "In Memory of Vogelwarte Rossitten"). This area later received enormous impetus when ex perimental research on the subject was begun: the large-scale bird-ringing experiment initiated in Rossitten in 1903 by Johannes Thienemann (who was inspired by the pioneering studies of C. C. M. Mortensen), the experiments on photoperiodicity carried out by William Rowan in the 1920s in Canada and retention and release experiments performed by Thienemann in the 1930s in Rossitten, the first experimental study on the orientation of migratory birds. After the Second World War, migration research, while continuing in the previous areas, also expanded into new directions such as radar ornithology, ecophysiology and hormonal control mechanisms, studies of evolution, ge netics, telemetry and others.

This open access book examines health trajectories and health transitions at different stages of the life course, including childhood, adulthood and later life. It provides findings that assess the role of biological and social transitions on health status over time. The essays examine a wide range of health issues, including the consequences of military service on body mass index, childhood obesity and cardiovascular health, socio-economic inequalities in preventive health care use, depression and anxiety during the child rearing period, health trajectories and transitions in people with cystic fibrosis and oral health over the life course. The book addresses theoretical, empirical and methodological issues as well as examines different national contexts, which help to identify factors of vulnerability and potential resources that support resilience available for specific groups and/or populations. Health reflects the ability of individuals to adapt to their social environment. This book analyzes health as a dynamic experience. It examines how different aspects of individual health unfold over time as a result of aging but also in relation to changing socioeconomic conditions. It also offers readers potential insights into public policies that affect the health status of a population.

Over the past century, we have made great strides in reducing rates of disease and enhancing people's general health. Public health measures such as sanitation, improved hygiene, and vaccines; reduced hazards in the workplace; new drugs and clinical procedures; and, more recently, a growing understanding of the human genome have each played a role in extending the duration and raising the quality of human life. But research conducted over the past few decades shows us that this progress, much of which was based on investigating one causative factor at a time—often, through a single discipline or by a narrow range of practitioners—can only go so far. Genes, Behavior, and the Social Environment examines a number of well-described gene-environment interactions, reviews the state of the science in researching such interactions, and recommends priorities not only for research itself but also for its workforce, resource, and infrastructural needs.

In the small “Fly Room†at Columbia University, T.H. Morgan and his students, A.H. Sturtevant, C.B. Bridges, and H.J. Muller, carried out the work that laid the foundations of modern, chromosomal genetics. The excitement of those times, when the whole field of genetics was being created, is captured in this book, written in 1965 by one of those present at the beginning. His account is one of the few authoritative, analytic works on the early history of genetics. This attractive reprint is accompanied by a website, http://www.esp.org/books/sturt/history/ offering full-text versions of the key papers discussed in the book, including the world's first genetic map.

The Arthur M. Sackler Colloquia of the National Academy of Sciences address scientific topics of broad and current interest, cutting across the boundaries of traditional disciplines. Each year, four or five such colloquia are scheduled, typically two days in length and international in scope. Colloquia are organized by a member of the Academy, often with the assistance of an organizing committee, and feature presentations by leading scientists in the field and discussions with a hundred or more researchers with an interest in the topic. Colloquia presentations are recorded and posted on the National Academy of Sciences Sackler colloquia website and published on CD-ROM. These Colloquia are made possible by a generous gift from Mrs. Jill Sackler, in memory of her husband, Arthur M. Sackler.

Representing the latest knowledge of the ecology and the physiology of cold-adapted microorganisms, plants and animals, this book explains the mechanisms of cold-adaptation on the enzymatic and molecular level, including results from the first crystal structures of enzymes of cold-adapted organisms.

A provocative and timely case for how the science of genetics can help create a more just and equal society In recent years, scientists like Kathryn Paige Harden have shown that DNA makes us different, in our personalities and in our health—and in ways that matter for educational and economic success in our current society. In The Genetic Lottery, Harden introduces readers to the latest genetic science, dismantling dangerous ideas about racial superiority and challenging us to grapple with what equality really means in a world where people are born different. Weaving together personal stories with scientific evidence, Harden shows why our refusal to recognize the power of DNA perpetuates the myth of meritocracy, and argues that we must acknowledge the role of genetic luck if we are ever to create a fair society. Reclaiming genetic science from the legacy of eugenics, this groundbreaking book offers a bold new vision of society where everyone thrives, regardless of how one fares in the genetic lottery.

The exploding field of epigenetics is challenging the dogma of traditional Mendelian inheritance. Epigenetics plays an important role in shaping who we are and contributes to our prospects of health and disease. While early epigenetic research focused on plant and animal models and in vitro experiments, population-based epidemiologic studies increasingly incorporate epigenetic components. The relevance of epigenetic marks, such as DNA methylation, genomic imprinting, and histone modification for disease causation has yet to be fully explored.This book covers the basic concepts of epigenetic epidemiology, discusses challenges in study design, analysis, and interpretation, epigenetic laboratory techniques, the influence of age and environmental factors on shaping the epigenome, the role of epigenetics in the developmental origins hypothesis, and provides the state of the art on the epigenetic epidemiology of various health conditions including childhood syndromes, cancer, infectious diseases, inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders, psychiatric disorders, diabetes, obesity and metabolic disorders, and atherosclerosis. With contributions from: Peter Jones, Jean-Pierre Issa, Gavin Kelsey, Robert Waterland, and many other experts in epigenetics!