Preface; CHAPTER 1 The Eternal Paradox; CHAPTER 2 Fallible Design: Protein-Coding DNA Sequences; CHAPTER 3 Baroque Design: Gratuitous Genomic Complexity; CHAPTER 4 Wasteful Design: Repetitive DNA Elements; CHAPTER 5 Intelligent or Non-Intelligent Design?; Epilogue; Notes and References; Glossary; Index
Summary
Humanity's physical design flaws have long been apparent--we get hemorrhoids and impacted wisdom teeth, for instance--but do the imperfections extend down to the level of our genes? Inside the Human Genome is the first book to examine the philosophical question of why, from the perspectives of biochemistry and molecular genetics, flaws exist in the biological world. Distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise offers a panoramic yet penetrating exploration of the many gross deficiencies in human DNA--ranging from mutational defects to built-in design faults--while at the same time offering
