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DNA --- Genetics --- Developmental genetics --- Genes --- Genetic Determinism --- Symbolism --- Social aspects

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Can genes determine which fifty-year-old will succumb to Alzheimer's, which citizen will turn out on voting day, and which child will be marked for a life of crime? Yes, according to the Internet, a few scientific studies, and some in the biotechnology industry who should know better. Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber gather a team of genetic experts to argue that treating genes as the holy grail of our physical being is a patently unscientific endeavor. Genetic Explanations urges us to replace our faith in genetic determinism with scientific knowledge about how DNA actually contributes to human development. The concept of the gene has been steadily revised since Watson and Crick discovered the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. No longer viewed by scientists as the cell's fixed set of master molecules, genes and DNA are seen as a dynamic script that is ad-libbed at each stage of development. Rather than an autonomous predictor of disease, the DNA we inherit interacts continuously with the environment and functions differently as we age. What our parents hand down to us is just the beginning. Emphasizing relatively new understandings of genetic plasticity and epigenetic inheritance, the authors put into a broad developmental context the role genes are known to play in disease, behavior, evolution, and cognition. Rather than dismissing genetic reductionism out of hand, Krimsky and Gruber ask why it persists despite opposing scientific evidence, how it influences attitudes about human behavior, and how it figures in the politics of research funding.

Genetics. --- Biology --- Embryology --- Mendel's law --- Adaptation (Biology) --- Breeding --- Chromosomes --- Heredity --- Mutation (Biology) --- Variation (Biology) --- Genetic Determinism. --- Genetic Phenomena. --- Interdisciplinary Communication.

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After the discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953, scientists working in molecular biology embraced reductionism-the theory that all complex systems can be understood in terms of their components. Reductionism, however, has been widely resisted by both nonmolecular biologists and scientists working outside the field of biology. Many of these antireductionists, nevertheless, embrace the notion of physicalism-the idea that all biological processes are physical in nature. How, Alexander Rosenberg asks, can these self-proclaimed physicalists also be antireductionists? With clarity and wit, Darwinian Reductionism navigates this difficult and seemingly intractable dualism with convincing analysis and timely evidence. In the spirit of the few distinguished biologists who accept reductionism-E. O. Wilson, Francis Crick, Jacques Monod, James Watson, and Richard Dawkins-Rosenberg provides a philosophically sophisticated defense of reductionism and applies it to molecular developmental biology and the theory of natural selection, ultimately proving that the physicalist must also be a reductionist.

Molecular biology --- Biology --- Reductionism. --- Philosophy --- Vitalism --- Molecular biochemistry --- Molecular biophysics --- Biochemistry --- Biophysics --- Biomolecules --- Systems biology --- Philosophy. --- Reductionism --- Molecular biology - Philosophy --- Biology - Philosophy --- charles darwin, darwinian, biology, biological, science, scientific, scientists, philosophy, philosophical, molecular, dna, reductionist, theory, theoretical, antireductionists, physicalism, dualism, richard dawkins, james watson, jacques monod, francis crick, eo wilson, developmental, informational genes, genetic determinism, human history, genomics, natural selection.

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Over the past centuries the pendulum has constantly swung between an emphasis on the role of either nature or nurture in shaping human destiny, a pendulum often energised by ideological considerations. In recent decades the flourishing of developmental biology, genomics, epigenetics and our increased understanding of neuronal plasticity have all helped to subvert such dichotomous notions. Nevertheless, the media still report the discovery of a gene 'for' this or that behaviour, and the field of behavioural genetics continues to extend its reach into the social sciences, reporting the heritability of such human traits as religiosity and political affiliation. There are many continuing challenges to notions of human freedom and moral responsibility, with consequent implications for social flourishing, the legal system and religious beliefs. In this book, Denis Alexander critically examines these challenges, concluding that genuine free will, often influenced by genetic variation, emerges from an integrated view of human personhood derived from contemporary biology.

Genomics --- Genetic Determinism --- Genetic Variation. --- Religious Philosophies --- 215 --- Intelligent Design --- Taoism --- Design, Intelligent --- Designs, Intelligent --- Intelligent Designs --- Philosophies, Religious --- Philosophy, Religious --- Religious Philosophy --- Taoisms --- Determinism, Genetic --- Genome research --- Genomes --- Molecular genetics --- 215 Godsdienst en wetenschap --- 215 Religion et science --- Godsdienst en wetenschap --- Religion et science --- Diversity, Genetic --- Genetic Diversity --- Variation, Genetic --- Diversities, Genetic --- Genetic Diversities --- Genetic Variations --- Variations, Genetic --- Biological Variation, Population --- Research --- Genetic Variation --- Genomics.

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In this innovative celebration of diversity and affirmation of individuality in animals and humans, Joan Roughgarden challenges accepted wisdom about gender identity and sexual orientation. A distinguished evolutionary biologist, Roughgarden takes on the medical establishment, the Bible, social science-and even Darwin himself. She leads the reader through a fascinating discussion of diversity in gender and sexuality among fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals, including primates. Evolution's Rainbow explains how this diversity develops from the action of genes and hormones and how people come to differ from each other in all aspects of body and behavior. Roughgarden reconstructs primary science in light of feminist, gay, and transgender criticism and redefines our understanding of sex, gender, and sexuality. Witty, playful, and daring, this book will revolutionize our understanding of sexuality. Roughgarden argues that principal elements of Darwinian sexual selection theory are false and suggests a new theory that emphasizes social inclusion and control of access to resources and mating opportunity. She disputes a range of scientific and medical concepts, including Wilson's genetic determinism of behavior, evolutionary psychology, the existence of a gay gene, the role of parenting in determining gender identity, and Dawkins's "selfish gene" as the driver of natural selection. She dares social science to respect the agency and rationality of diverse people; shows that many cultures across the world and throughout history accommodate people we label today as lesbian, gay, and transgendered; and calls on the Christian religion to acknowledge the Bible's many passages endorsing diversity in gender and sexuality. Evolution's Rainbow concludes with bold recommendations for improving education in biology, psychology, and medicine; for democratizing genetic engineering and medical practice; and for building a public monument to affirm diversity as one of our nation's defining principles.

Biodiversity. --- Sexual behavior in animals. --- Gender identity. --- Sexual orientation. --- Biological diversification --- Biological diversity --- Biotic diversity --- Diversification, Biological --- Diversity, Biological --- Biology --- Biocomplexity --- Ecological heterogeneity --- Numbers of species --- Orientation, Sexual --- Sexual preference --- Sex (Psychology) --- Sexual reorientation programs --- Sex identity (Gender identity) --- Sexual identity (Gender identity) --- Identity (Psychology) --- Queer theory --- Animals --- Breeding behavior --- Copulation behavior in animals --- Copulation in animals --- Copulatory behavior in animals --- Copulatory pattern (Animal behavior) --- Mating behavior --- Reproductive behavior --- Sex behavior in animals --- Animal behavior --- Sexual behavior --- Gender nonconformity. --- Sex role --- Sexual selection. --- Sexual selection --- Sex role. --- Gender Identity. --- Sexual Behavior. --- Premarital Sex Behavior --- Sex Behavior --- Sex Orientation --- Sexual Activities --- Anal Sex --- Oral Sex --- Sexual Activity --- Sexual Orientation --- Activities, Sexual --- Activity, Sexual --- Behavior, Premarital Sex --- Behavior, Sex --- Behavior, Sexual --- Sex, Anal --- Sex, Oral --- Sex --- Reproductive Behavior --- Gender --- Gender Identities --- Identity, Gender --- Transgender Persons --- Biological Diversity --- Gender dysphoria --- Conversion therapy --- animals. --- bible. --- biology. --- body and behavior. --- creatures. --- darwinian sexual selection. --- diversity. --- evolutionary biology. --- evolutionary psychology. --- feminist theory. --- gay gene. --- gender and sexuality. --- gender identity. --- gender studies. --- genes and hormones. --- humans. --- individuality. --- mating opportunities. --- medical establishment. --- natural selection. --- religion. --- scientists. --- selfish gene. --- sex gender and sexuality. --- sexual orientation. --- social inclusion. --- social science. --- theoretical. --- transgender criticism. --- wilsons genetic determinism of behavior.