Germs, Genes, and Bacteria: How They Influence Modern Life (Collection)

Germs, Genes, and Bacteria: How They Influence Modern Life (Collection)

by David Clark, Greg Gibson, Anne Maczulak, Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Joyce A. Schoemaker
Released March 2011
Publisher(s): Pearson
ISBN: 9780132788359

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Book description

Breakthrough bioscience and its implications: 3 extraordinary boks take you to the cutting edge of biology, genetics, evolution, and human health

Three remarkable books take you to the cutting edge of biology, genetics, evolution, and human health — explaining the newest science, and revealing its incredible implications! Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today reveals how microbes have shaped our health, genetics, history, culture, politics, religion and ethics… and how they’re shaping our future right now. Allies and Enemies: How the World Depends on Bacteria offers an even closer look at humans’ intimate partnership with bacteria… how they keep you alive, how they can kill you, and how we can all live together happily in peace. Finally, in It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life Is Making Us Sick, Greg Gibson explains today’s explosion in chronic disease through a revolutionary new hypothesis: our genome is out of equilibrium with itself, its environment, and modern culture.

From world-renowned leaders in science and science journalism, includingDavid Clark, Anne Maczulak, and Greg Gibson

Table of contents

  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Germs, Genes, & Civilization: How Epidemics Shaped Who We Are Today
    1. Table of Contents
    2. Contents
    3. Preface
    4. Acknowledgments
    5. About the Author
    6. 1. Introduction: our debt to disease
      1. Epidemics select genetic alterations
      2. Every cloud has a silver lining: our debt to disease
      3. Crowding and culling
      4. The message of this book
    7. 2. Where did our diseases come from?
      1. Africa: homeland of mankind and malaria
      2. Many human diseases originated in animals
      3. Are new diseases virulent to start with?
      4. Diseases from rodents
      5. Leprosy is a relatively new disease
      6. What goes around comes around
    8. 3. Transmission, overcrowding, and virulence
      1. Virulence and the spread of disease
      2. Infectious and noninfectious disease
      3. Many diseases become milder with time
      4. Development of genetic resistance to disease
      5. Hunting and gathering
      6. How do microorganisms become dangerous?
    9. 4. Water, sewers, and empires
      1. Introduction: the importance of biology
      2. Irrigation helps agriculture but spreads germs
      3. The class system, water, and infection
      4. The origin of diarrheal diseases
      5. Cholera comes from the Indian subcontinent
      6. Cholera and the water supply
      7. The rise and fall of the Indus Valley civilization
      8. Cities are vulnerable to waterborne diseases
      9. Cholera, typhoid, and cystic fibrosis
      10. How did disease affect the rise of Rome?
      11. How much did malaria contribute to the fall of Rome?
      12. Uncivilized humans and unidentified diseases
      13. Bubonic plague makes an appearance
    10. 5. Meat and vegetables
      1. Eating is hazardous to your health
      2. Hygiene in the home
      3. Cannibalism is hazardous to your health
      4. Mad cow disease in England
      5. The political response
      6. Mad cow disease in humans
      7. Fungal diseases and death in the countryside
      8. Fungal diseases and cereal crops
      9. Religious mania induced by fungi
      10. Catastrophes caused by fungi
      11. Human disease follows malnutrition
      12. Coffee or tea?
      13. Opportunistic fungal pathogens
      14. Friend or enemy
    11. 6. Pestilence and warfare
      1. Who kills more?
      2. Spread of disease by the military
      3. Is it better to besiege or to be besieged?
      4. Disease promotes imperial expansion
      5. Protozoa help keep Africa black
      6. Is bigger really better?
      7. Disease versus enemy action
      8. Typhus, warrior germ of the temperate zone
      9. Jails, workhouses, and concentration camps
      10. Germ warfare
      11. Psychology, cost, and convenience
      12. Anthrax as a biological weapon
      13. Amateurs with biological weapons are rarely effective
      14. Which agents are used in germ warfare?
      15. World War I and II
      16. Germ warfare against rabbits
      17. Germ warfare is unreliable
      18. Genetic engineering of diseases
    12. 7. Venereal disease and sexual behavior
      1. Venereal disease is embarrassing
      2. Promiscuity, propaganda, and perception
      3. The arrival of syphilis in Europe
      4. Relation between venereal and skin infections
      5. AIDS is an atypical venereal disease
      6. Origin of AIDS among African apes and monkeys
      7. Worldwide incidence and spread of AIDS
      8. The Church, morality, and venereal infections
      9. Moral and religious responses to AIDS
      10. Public health and AIDS
      11. Inherited resistance to AIDS
      12. The ancient history of venereal disease
    13. 8. Religion and tradition: health below or heaven above?
      1. Religion and health care
      2. Belief and expectation
      3. Roman religion and epidemics
      4. Infectious disease and early religious practices
      5. Worms and serpents
      6. Sumerians, Egyptians, and ancient Greece
      7. Hygiene and religious purity
      8. Protecting the living from the dead
      9. Diverting evil spirits into animals
      10. Cheaper rituals for the poor
      11. Vampires, werewolves, and garlic
      12. Divine retribution versus individual justice
      13. The rise of Christianity
      14. Coptic Christianity and malaria
      15. Messianic Taoism during the collapse of Han China
      16. Buddhism and smallpox in first-millennium Japan
      17. The European Middle Ages and the Black Death
      18. The Great Plague of London
      19. Loss of Christian faith in industrial Europe
      20. Cleanliness is next to godliness
    14. 9. Manpower and slavery
      1. Legacy of the last Ice Age
      2. The New World before contact
      3. Indigenous American infections
      4. Lack of domesticated animals in America
      5. The first epidemic in the Caribbean
      6. Epidemics sweep the American mainland
      7. The religious implications
      8. Deliberate use of germ warfare
      9. Slavery and African diseases
      10. Exposure of islands to mainland diseases
      11. Cholera and good intentions
      12. The issue of biological isolation
      13. Spotted fevers and rickettsias
      14. The origins of typhus are uncertain
      15. What about the Vikings?
    15. 10. Urbanization and democracy
      1. Cities as population sinks
      2. Viral diseases in the city
      3. Bacterial diseases in the city
      4. The Black Death
      5. Climatic changes: the “Little Ice Age”
      6. The Black Death frees labor in Europe
      7. Death rates and freedom in Europe
      8. The Black Death and religion
      9. The White Plague: tuberculosis
      10. The rise of modern hygiene
      11. The collapse of the European empires
      12. Resistant people?
      13. How clean is too clean?
      14. Where are we now?
    16. 11. Emerging diseases and the future
      1. Pandemics and demographic collapse
      2. The various types of emerging diseases
      3. Changes in knowledge
      4. Changes in the agent of disease
      5. Changes in the human population
      6. Changes in contact between victims and germs
      7. The supposed re-emergence of tuberculosis
      8. Diseases are constantly emerging
      9. How dangerous are novel viruses?
      10. Transmission of emerging viruses
      11. Efficient transmission and genuine threats
      12. The history and future of influenza
      13. The great influenza epidemic of 1918–1919
      14. Disease and the changing climate
      15. Technology-borne diseases
      16. Emergence of antibiotic resistance
      17. Disease and the food supply
      18. Overpopulation and microbial evolution
      19. Predicting the future
      20. Future emerging diseases
      21. Gloom and doom or a happy ending?
    17. Further reading
    18. Index
  4. Allies and Enemies: How the World Depends on Bacteria
    1. Contents
    2. Acknowledgments
    3. About the Author
    4. Introduction
    5. 1. Why the world needs bacteria
      1. Tricks in bacterial survival
      2. Bacterial communities
      3. Under the microscope
      4. The size of life
      5. The bacteria of the human body
      6. The origins of our bacteria
      7. One planet
    6. 2. Bacteria in history
      1. The ancients
      2. The legacy of bacterial pathogens
      3. The plague
      4. Microbiologists save the day
      5. Unheralded heroes of bacteriology
      6. On the front
    7. 3. “Humans defeat germs!” (but not for long)
      1. What is an antibiotic?
      2. Inventing drugs is like making sausage
      3. Mutant wars
      4. Bacteria share their DNA
      5. The opportunists
    8. 4. Bacteria in popular culture
      1. Bacteria and art
      2. Bacteria in the performing arts
      3. Friends and enemies
      4. Do bacteria devour art?
    9. 5. An entire industry from a single cell
      1. E. coli
      2. The power of cloning
      3. A chain reaction
      4. Bacteria on the street
      5. Anthrax
      6. Why we will always need bacteria
    10. 6. The invisible universe
      1. Versatility begets diversity
      2. Cyanobacteria
      3. Bacterial protein factories
      4. How to build an ecosystem
      5. Feedback and ecosystem maintenance
      6. Macrobiology
    11. 7. Climate, bacteria, and a barrel of oil
      1. The story of oil
      2. Bacteria power
      3. How is a cow like a cockroach?
      4. Microscopic power plants
      5. The waste problem
      6. Bacteria on Mars
      7. Shaping the planet
    12. Epilogue: How microbiologists grow bacteria
      1. Serial dilution
      2. Counting bacteria
      3. Logarithms
      4. Anaerobic microbiology
      5. Aseptic technique
    13. Resources for learning more about bacteria
      1. Internet resources on bacteria
      2. Book resources on bacteria
      3. Classic reading on bacteria
    14. Bacteria rule references
      1. Chapter 1
      2. Chapter 2
      3. Chapter 3
      4. Internet
      5. Chapter 4
      6. Chapter 5
      7. Chapter 6
      8. Chapter 7
    15. Index
  5. It Takes a Genome: How a Clash Between Our Genes and Modern Life Is Making Us Sick
    1. Contents
    2. Praise for It Takes a Genome
    3. Preface: How a genetic culture clash with modern life is making us sick
    4. 1. The adolescent genome
      1. Genetic Imperfection
      2. Unselfish Genes
      3. How Genes Work and Why they Come in Different Flavors
      4. Three Reasons Why Genes Might Make Us Sick
      5. A Unified Theory of Complex Disease
      6. The Human Genome Project
      7. Genomewide Association
    5. 2. Breast cancer’s broken genes
      1. Cancer of the Breast
      2. Broken Genes, Broken Lives
      3. Epidemiology and Relative Risk
      4. Brakes, Accelerators, and Mechanics
      5. Familial Breast Cancer
      6. Growth Factors and the Risk to Populations
      7. Pharmacogenetics and Breast Cancer
      8. Why Do Genes Give us Cancer?
    6. 3. Not so thrifty diabetes genes
      1. Jackie and Ella
      2. The Pathology of Diabetes
      3. Type 1 Diabetes
      4. An Epidemic Genetic Disease
      5. Genetics of Obesity
      6. Type 2 Diabetes
      7. Debunking the Thrifty Genes Hypothesis
      8. Disequilibrium and Metabolic Syndrome
    7. 4. Unhealthy hygiene
      1. Athletic Asthmatics
      2. Inflammation and Respiration
      3. The Hygiene Hypothesis
      4. Asthma Epidemiology
      5. Genetics of Asthma
      6. Inflamed Bowels and Crohn’s Disease
      7. Rheumatoid Arthritis
      8. Imbalance of the Immune System
    8. 5. Genetic AIDS
      1. AIDS and the World
      2. From HIV to AIDS
      3. Why HIV is so Nasty
      4. How to Resist a Virus with Your Genes
      5. HIV Imbalance
    9. 6. Generating depression
      1. Creative Depression
      2. An Epidemic of Mood Swings
      3. Bipolar and Monopolar Disorders
      4. The Pharmacology of Despair
      5. Misbehaving Serotonin
      6. Faint Genetic Signals
      7. Schizophrenia and Other Mental Disturbances
      8. The Genetic Tightrope of the Mind
      9. A Kindling Theory in the Modern World
    10. 7. The alzheimer’s generation
      1. Slow Walk to Dementia
      2. Alzheimer’s on the March
      3. Tangles and Plaques
      4. Early Onset FAD
      5. Late Onset LOAD
      6. Just Growing Old
    11. 8. Genetic normality
      1. Height and Weight
      2. Pigmentation
      3. The God Gene
      4. A Few Words About IQ
      5. On Being Human
      6. The Adolescent Genome Revisited
    12. Notes
      1. Chapter 1
      2. Chapter 2
      3. Chapter 3
      4. Chapter 4
      5. Chapter 5
      6. Chapter 6
      7. Chapter 7
      8. Chapter 8
    13. About the author
    14. Index
  6. Chips, Clones, and Living Beyond 100: How Far Will the Biosciences Take Us?
    1. Dedication
    2. Contents at a Glance
    3. Contents
    4. Foreword
    5. Preface
      1. Defining bioscience and biomedicine
      2. Origins of this book
      3. An uncertain future
    6. 1. Living well beyond 100
      1. Great progress made, much more to come
      2. Extending human life expectancy
      3. Medical challenges and promises
      4. Living well versus living longer
      5. Social challenges and promises
      6. Can we afford old age?
      7. Government and business
      8. Singapore: the biopolis of Asia
      9. The journey ahead
      10. Endnotes
    7. 2. A short history of biomedicine
      1. Improving hygiene
      2. Killer epidemics
      3. The power of immunology
      4. The discovery of antibiotics
      5. The DNA revolution
      6. Scientists policing themselves
      7. Unraveling the code
      8. Conclusion
      9. Endnotes
    8. 3. Snapshot of the biosciences
      1. DNA-based technologies
      2. Types of genetic tests
      3. RNA-based technologies
      4. Protein-based technologies
      5. Cell-based and other technologies
      6. Revenge of the superbugs
      7. Conclusion
      8. Endnotes
    9. 4. Bio-driven convergence
      1. Converging technologies
      2. Biochips and individualized medicine
      3. Healthcare and IT
      4. Reshaping bioinformatics
      5. Convergence of biology and information
      6. Genomic databases
      7. Commercialization challenges
      8. The power of biomarkers
      9. The road ahead
      10. Endnotes
    10. 5. The business of biomedicine
      1. The pharmaceutical industry
      2. High failure rate
      3. Past performance versus future prospects
      4. An easy target
      5. The biotechnology sector
      6. The need to search more broadly
      7. Medical device industry
      8. Major device segments and players
      9. Medical diagnostics industry
      10. Major components of laboratory testing
      11. Prevention and disease management
      12. Conclusions
      13. Endnotes
    11. 6. Healthcare under stress
      1. Stress in developed nations
      2. Costs of chronic diseases in the United States
      3. Stress in developing nations
      4. China and India could become “laboratories of the world”
      5. Challenges of AIDS in developing markets
      6. Which technologies will succeed?
      7. Illustrative cases
      8. Proton beam cyclotrons: the most complex and expensive ever
      9. Summary
      10. Endnotes
    12. 7. Wildcards for the future
      1. Trends versus uncertainties
      2. Wildcards
      3. Society and politics
      4. Strong opposition to Oxford biomedical sciences
      5. Science and technology
      6. Business and economics
      7. A scenario framework
      8. The role of stakeholders
      9. Endnotes
    13. 8. Scenarios up to 2025
      1. Bio Gridlock scenario
      2. Highlights of the Bio Gridlock scenario
      3. A “silent revolution”
      4. The impact of bioterrorism
      5. Sample headlines for Bio Gridlock
      6. Golden age scenario
      7. Scenario highlights
      8. Progress in genomics and proteomics
      9. Peer-to-peer structures allay privacy concerns
      10. Outpatient care for heart attacks
      11. Sample headlines: golden age of medicine
    14. 9. What it all means
      1. You and your family
      2. Advances in fertility treatment
      3. At work
      4. Business and commerce
      5. Society at large
      6. Endnotes
    15. A. DNA, RNA, and protein
      1. Molecules of inheritance
      2. The structure of DNA
      3. The most beautiful experiment
      4. Cracking the code
      5. Making proteins
      6. What is RNA?
      7. Regulating gene expression
      8. Endnotes
    16. B. Cloning genes
      1. Restriction enzymes
      2. Cloning procedure
      3. Endnotes
    17. C. Complexity of the genome
      1. Non-coding RNAs
      2. SNP variations
      3. Endnotes
    18. Glossary of Biomedical Terms
    19. Acknowledgments
    20. About the Authors
    21. Index

Product information

  • Title: Germs, Genes, and Bacteria: How They Influence Modern Life (Collection)
  • Author(s): David Clark, Greg Gibson, Anne Maczulak, Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Joyce A. Schoemaker
  • Release date: March 2011
  • Publisher(s): Pearson
  • ISBN: 9780132788359