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A passion for DNA : genes, genomes, and society / James D. Watson ; with an introduction, afterword, and annotations by Walter B. Gratzer.

Van Pelt Library QH438 .W38 2000
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Format:
Author/Creator:
Contributor:
Language:
English
Subjects (All):
Physical Description:
xx, 250 pages ; 24 cm
Place of Publication:
Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. : Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, [2000]
Summary:
A principal architect and visionary of the new biology, a Nobel Prize-winner at 34 and best-selling author at 40 (The Double Helix), James D. Watson had the authority, flair, and courage to take an early and prominent role as commentator on the march of DNA science and its implications for society. In essays for publications large and small, and in lectures around the world, he delivered what were, in effect, dispatches from the front lines of the revolution. Outspoken and sparkling with ideas and opinions, a selection of them is collected for the first time in this volume.
Contents:
  • Autobiographical Flights
  • Values from a Chicago Upbringing 3
  • Growing Up in the Phage Group 7
  • Minds That Live for Science 17
  • Early Speculations and Facts about RNA Templates 23
  • Bragg's Foreword to The Double Helix 33
  • Biographies: Luria, Hershey, and Pauling 37
  • Recombinant DNA Controversies
  • In Further Defense of DNA 49
  • Standing Up for Recombinant DNA 61
  • The Nobelist Versus the Film Star 71
  • The DNA Biochemical Canard 75
  • Ethos of Science
  • Moving Toward the Clonal Man: Is This What We Want? 83
  • The Dissemination of Unpublished Information 91
  • Science and the American Scene 105
  • The Necessity for Some Academic Aloofness 109
  • Striving for Excellence 117
  • Succeeding in Science: Some Rules of Thumb 123
  • War on Cancer
  • The Academic Community and Cancer Research 129
  • Maintaining High-Quality Cancer Research in a Zero-Sum Era 139
  • The Science for Beating Down Cancer 147
  • Societal Implications of the Human Genome Project
  • Moving on to Human DNA 163
  • Ethical Implications of the Human Genome Project 169
  • Genes and Politics 179
  • Five Days in Berlin 209
  • Good Gene, Bad Gene: What Is the Right Way to Fight the Tragedy of Genetic Disease? 223
  • Viewpoint: All for the Good
  • Why Genetic Engineering Must Soldier On 227
  • Afterword: Envoi
  • DNA, Peace, and Laughter 231.
Local Notes:
Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund.
ISBN:
0879695811
OCLC:
43083276
Online:
The Edward Potts Cheyney Memorial Fund Home Page

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