How We Live & Why We Die: The Secret Lives of Cells - Hardcover

Wolpert, Lewis

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393072215 ISBN 13: 9780393072211

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009

Synopsis

Biologist Lewis Wolpert eloquently narrates the basics of human life through the lens of its smallest component―the cell.

Everything about our existence―movement and memory, imagination and reproduction, birth and, ultimately, death―is governed by our cells. They are the basis of all life in the universe, from the tiniest bacteria to the most complex animals. In the tradition of the classic Lives of a Cell, but with the benefit of the latest research, internationally acclaimed embryologist Lewis Wolpert demonstrates how human life derives from a single cell and then grows into a body, an incredibly complex society made up of billions of them. When we age, our cells cannot repair the damage they have undergone; when we get ill, it is because cells are so damaged they stop working and die. Wolpert examines the science behind topics that are much discussed but rarely understood―stem cell research, cloning, DNA, mutating cancer cells―and explains how all life evolved from just one cell. Lively and passionate, this is an accessible guide to understanding the human body and life itself.

About this title

About the Author:

Lewis Wolpert is Professor Emeritus of Biology as Applied to Medicine at University College, London. His books include Six Impossible Things before Breakfast, How We Live and Why We Die, and Malignant Sadness, the basis for a BBC television series.

From Publishers Weekly:

Wolpert, professor emeritus of biology at University College London (Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast), conceives bodies as complex societies of cells, with each individual cell and cell type fulfilling a very specific role. As Wolpert explains, cells are incredibly complicated, representing evolution in action. Indeed, Wolpert asserts, However clever one thinks cells are, they almost always turn out to exceed one's expectations. He provides basic biological information about cell structure, genetics and reproduction, and then discusses the roles cells play in disease, aging, death, reproduction, memory, emotion and much more. In focusing on the process of human development, he marvels at how a single cell, a fertilized egg, can grow into a complex organism. Along the way, Wolpert lightly touches on some hot-button topics like the ethics of stem cell research; when a developing fetus might be considered human; and the ethics of cloning. His range is so great that he has little time to delve beneath the surface of any of the subjects he raises, making this a cursory introduction for the novice in basic cell biology and its implications. (Oct.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0393072215
• ISBN 13: 9780393072211
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256