The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution by Sean B. Carroll (PDF)

Description

DNA evidence not only solves crimes—in Sean Carroll’s hands it will now end the Evolution Wars.DNA, the genetic blueprint of all creatures, is a stunningly rich and detailed record of evolution. Every change or new trait, from the gaudy colors of tropical birds to our color vision with which we admire them, is due to changes in DNA that leave a record and can be traced. Just as importantly, the DNA evidence has revealed several profound surprises about how evolution actually works.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Science has discovered the process of geological change through Plate Tectonics caused by the heat engine of radio-active decay at the Center of Earth. Science has discovered the heat engine of nuclear fusion at the center of Sun to make life giving radiation and heat. Now, science is on it’s way of discovering the engine that makes Evolution works. Watching the program “What Darwin Never Knew” along with this book gave me the insight of the Evolutionary process at the molecular level which is the primary cause of Evolution. The mathematics is great and I want you to know that Evolution can beat any and all odds. Why, because Evolution has immense amount of individuals in a population and immense amount of time to beat these odds. If a chance of something occurring 1 in 500,000,000 and with a population that sustain itself around 1,000,000 per year along with a turn-over of offspring and deaths each year, then that chance has good probability of occurring once every 500 years. A merger amount of time in geological or Evolutionary time. It these high odds that make viruses impossible to eliminate keeping medical science constantly working on it. Good old Albert, Compound interest is a powerful force and a natural one. With this a .001 advantage will give you 19,807 generations to get to 100% while 0.1 gives you 198 generations. However, I want to let you know, that good old mutation will not allow anything to get to 100%, because 100% will eventually get you extinction. The Doubling Law is an amazing mathematical reality that plays a major role getting genes into a population.The amazing section of this book is repeatable mutations. I finally got the picture when I understood that this event does occur. The demonstration of the blind insect, fish and salamanders in caves convinced me that repeatable mutations along with mathematics previously discussed makes it a fore gone conclusion that it will eventually make it way into a population when it becomes a favorable. I call this a “Mutation looking for a home.” I believe repeating mutations are the key to Evolution change and modification of species.In the program “What Darwin Never Knew” a mutation of the gene for growth that suppress the jaw muscle in humans appear to be the initiation of developing the homo series of species that led to Homo Sapiens as describe in this program. The first 4 million years of the upright walking apes indicates the brain size flat lined at the level of the chimpanzee and then about 2 million years ago, brain size started to increase. Now, I would like give my idea on how a small brain hominid started the Homo series of species. Now this mutation being repeated in the past would be definitely be a disadvantage and would be eliminated by Natural Selection. But, a some small brain hominid species had supplemented meat as part of their diet, the same as the chimpanzee do today. Now, this would give this species the development of chemistry for processing meat. Now here comes that pesky mutation that suppress jaw muscle growth in a particular individual, mostly likely a recessive gene that makes it way through the population by the doubling law through successive generations. All of sudden two parents come together, carriers of this gene and one of the four kids gets both of these genes and his jaw muscle doesn’t completely develop like the rest of the other three kids. Now, since this species has tried meat eating and the body chemistry is now compatible for processing meat, this youngster has a source of food for survival. Being able to survive, the gene will be passed on to future generations making individuals meat eaters. Now we have a population of both vegetarians and meat eaters, since their life styles will be different causing an isolation within this population. The meat eaters will separate and go on to eventually to become the Homo series of species taking along with them the smaller jaw muscles, allowing the cranium the room to enlarge. Later mutations will eventually occur making the cranium larger, allowing enough space for the brain to enlarge. This will eventually make one of those Homo species to evolve into Homo Sapien.Another amazing fact is immortal genes. Natural Selection not only select against as well as select for, it also maintains stability. Immortal genes have the same probability of being exposed to mutations as any other genes, but the force of Natural Selection will preserve as will as constructs or destroys.The remaining issues in this book of Fossil genes, Homologous genes, Vision genes, the Arms Race, along with other materials in this book are absolute fascinating to read. I would recommended it to anybody and even to anti-evolutionists, to let them know, what they are up against.The only problem that I have with this book, is that it doesn’t get into protein synthesis too much. In order to understand Evolution, Mutation, and Natural Selection, the layman like myself need know how proteins are made and what they do. “What Darwin Never Knew” gives a good idea what proteins basically do which is to make body parts, boss other genes around and switches, but again, no explanation on protein synthesis process. I know it is a lengthy explanation, but a short version could be devised to give your readers a rudimentary explanation of this process.To end this review, I have seen the developing of the science of Plate Tectonics along with the discovery of the DNA molecule and it’s effects on genetic science now I’m seening the development of Evolution at the molecular level process that Charles Darwin Never Knew. Thanks

⭐I’ve read three or four other books that explore the evidence for evolution and in all of those books they cover the familiar areas of the fossil record, geographical distribution, etc. and sometimes briefly discuss molecular evidence, but “The Making of the Fittest” deals specifically with that area (as you can tell from the subtitle). The book is a fantastic exploration of how DNA (literally the text of the base pairs or the specific amino acids of a protein) provides incontrovertible evidence for evolution. To deny evolution after seeing some of the impressive examples in this book is a clear indication that the denial is based purely on theological grounds and certainly not scientific ones.The book is divided as such:Chapter 1: An introduction to what the rest of the book will be discussing. However, I would have preferred that this actually have been an introduction instead of being chapter 1, because it doesn’t really get into the topic of the book so much as summarize what each of the following chapters will be about.Chapter 2: A somewhat difficult chapter that deals with the math of evolution. I love math but I felt at times that Carroll was simply telling us what the results of particular equations mean, as opposed to explaining the math itself. I would like to have learned how to do the calculations myself in the event I need to present this evidence to someone else. At one point he uses a logarithm without even explaining how the equation works, so it raises the question of why he even bothered to show us the math at all if he wasn’t going to explain it.Chapter 3: This is where the book really hits its stride and doesn’t slow down for several chapters. This chapter discusses specific genes in our DNA that have remained unchanged for billions of year, evidence that natural selection has worked to keep these genes in place because of their fundamental usefulness to life.Chapter 4: An utterly fascinating chapter on how new genes have evolved in order to create new features across various species. In particular Carroll discusses color vision and the similarities/differences between species in the genes that affect vision in various animals.Chapter 5: Yet another completely absorbing chapter on “fossil genes” — genes that have mutated over time and have become inactive, yet still can be used to trace their heritage far back through the past.Chapter 6: Discusses the phenomenon of evolution repeating itself when given the same set of selection pressures with which to work, and how different species have independently evolved similar (or the same) features as a result.Chapter 7: Deals specifically with human issues such as the “arms race” between increasingly drug-resistant bacteria and human-created methods to deal with such germs.Chapter 8: A discussion on how complex features (such as the eye) can evolve. Intelligent designers, pay attention!Chapter 9: Carroll stops with the science at this point and in this chapter deals with the common arguments against evolution and the rational responses to these arguments.Chapter 10: The final chapter discusses how acceptance of evolution is more than just a philosophical exercise but instead can help us shape the future of not only our species but of many other species on the planet (especially those on the verge of extinction because of human activity). Even though Carroll discusses things such as overfishing, overhunting, pollution, and global warming, I didn’t get the impression that he tied all of this up neatly with the actual idea that accepting the truth of evolution can help us with these things.A few complaints I had were that:1. At some points the explanations got a little difficult to follow, and not so much because the science (or math) was over my head, but because Carroll didn’t seem to fully explain what he was describing. I feel like it was a fault of the writing in certain sections.2. There are many charts, graphs, and pictures, but they weren’t all explained very well. For example, Figure 4.3 (DNA Typing and Hominoid Evolution) shows a comparison of junk DNA called “SINES” among various animals (Human, Bonobo, Chimpanzee, Gorilla, etc.), but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out what I was looking at or how to read the lines. I got the general idea of what I was seeing, but the caption and even the text itself didn’t seem to explain the figure very well.3. A problem many authors, including Carroll, seem to have is the habit of summing up the topics they are about to discuss. Chapter 1 is mainly a setup for the rest of the book and the final part of it actually sums up what each of the following chapters will discuss. Furthermore, within each chapter Carroll also will sometimes close a section by describing what the next section will be about, or close a chapter by describing what the next chapter will be about. Personally, I find this kind of writing to be somewhat lazy. It contains no real content, no new information, and reads like filler. It’s as if the authors are not confident enough to simply end a section or chapter as-is without resorting to some type of segue into the next part.However, overall the book is a fantastic exploration of how DNA reveals the evidence for evolution across just about every species. If you’ve read other books about the evidence for evolution, chances are they dealt with a little of this material, but not as in-depth as Carroll’s book does. I definitely recommend this book to complement those other books, because it deals thoroughly with the DNA record. You will be amazed to see how similar DNA is across various species, and equally amazed to see that it differs in exactly the ways we would expect it to differ if evolution is true.

⭐Genetics science has mushroomed the last 50 years, overturning many cherished preconceptions in biology and other Natural Sciences, while buttressing other theories with an abundance of hard scientific evidence. Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection has been in the later category, with its core assumptions confirmed by the new data about DNA structure, history and function.The book is composed by a series of essays on the nature and function of genes within the DNA code, embedded in the cells of every living organism. The author offers ample evidence, from experimental data, about how exactly the workings of genes are ultimately responsible for the shaping and evolution of the Natural World around us. The point of the whole demonstration is to establish that Natural Selection mechanisms, as defined by Darwin about 150 years ago, are alive, well and firmly supported by the new data.The text is aimed at the general public but some knowledge in basic biology and DNA function will help the reader to follow the arguments more closely. It is not a prerequisite though, since the author explains thoroughly the more stringent points, with help from the illustrations.The last part of the book is the most disappointing, since it involves the denial of evolution, based on religious grounds, and a dire comment on the continuing destruction we inflict to the planet’s ecosystems. The author’s position, and one that I personally agree totally with, is that alarm bells are already sounding in many quarters and we no longer have the option of intellectual blindness.

⭐This is a very good book on how evolution works at the level of DNA. Carroll describes how DNA likely evolved, and how we can analyze DNA to better understand how evolution works. This is the meat and potatoes of the book, with Carroll illustrating how adaptations are gained, selected, and lost, and how all of that evolutionary history is recorded in the DNA of different species. Color vision is his pet example, and it is well-studied enough for him to provide a very detailed, very broad coverage of its evolution in numerous animal species. For anyone interested in genetics or evolution, this book is a very interesting read.Sadly, the second last chapter is devoted to arguing against those who doubt evolution. While I appreciate the author providing “ammunition” for those who confront such people, what so many evolutionary authors miss is that it isn’t an issue of the facts. Those are blatantly obvious and abundant. Rather, it’s about faith, which is a much subtler issue. So I don’t know how effective this chapter really is. The last chapter is about extinction of the fittest, or how humanity is screwing wildlife across the globe (he focuses primarily on overfishing). That’s certainly true, but again, I don’t know if more facts is the best solution. Anyone who knows anything knows that we’re badly overfishing the oceans.But I don’t want these two preachy, out-of-place chapters to take away from the really good science of the book. I don’t even disagree with the content of the two chapters, just their inclusion in an otherwise fact-based exploration of what DNA reveals about the principles of evolution, and its history on Earth. Very interesting stuff indeed!

⭐Pour avoir plus de connaissance sur l’évolution de la vie et la relation entre le vivant et son environnement.

⭐

⭐Magnificent

⭐Enjoyable read and interesting science.

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