Matters of Life and Death (eBook)

Perspectives on Public Health, Molecular Biology, Cancer, and the Prospects for the Human Race

John Cairns (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2021
271 Seiten
Princeton University Press (Verlag)
978-0-691-22533-3 (ISBN)

Infos

Cancer has become the scourge of the twentieth century. It was always part of the human condition, but until recently it was not a common cause of death because most people died from the infectious diseases. Now that so many of us will live long enough to develop cancer, we need to learn as much about it as we can. This requires some understanding of molecular biology. John Cairns has made significant contributions to cancer research, molecular biology, and virology. He believes that it is possible to explain what is known about cancer and about molecular biology in terms that are easily understood by people with little or no scientific training. In this fascinating book, he explores the revolution in public health, the origins and principles of molecular biology, and our emerging understanding of the causes of cancer. Finally, he discusses how these developments are likely to affect future generations. As Cairns points out, the last two hundred years have altered our life expectations beyond all recognition. Even in the less developed nations of the world, people are starting to believe that everyone ought to be able to live into old age and be protected from the major causes of premature death. This change in our expectations is one of the major benefits of technology and the biological sciences. But the resulting explosion in the human population ultimately threatens everything we have gained by scientific progress.

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 9.2.2021
• Zusatzinfo: 3 halftones 52 line drawings 5 tables
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Medizinethik
• Themenwelt: Medizin / Pharmazie ► Medizinische Fachgebiete ► Onkologie
• Themenwelt: Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Geschichte / Ethik der Medizin
• Themenwelt: Studium ► Querschnittsbereiche ► Prävention / Gesundheitsförderung
• Themenwelt: Naturwissenschaften ► Biologie ► Genetik / Molekularbiologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Ethnologie
• Themenwelt: Sozialwissenschaften ► Soziologie
• Schlagworte: adenine • adenovirus oncogenes • Aflatoxin • alkaptonuria • Allostery • Amino acid • Antibiotics • Antibody • Bacteria • Bacteriophage • base-pairing in DNA • biochemist • biochemistry • Biological Process • biologist • Biology • birth rate • bladder cancer • blender experiment • blood-letting • book series • Brain Development • Breast Cancer • Calculation • cancer cell • Cancer Research • Carbon dioxide • carcinogen • Carcinogenesis • catalysis • Causality • Cell Biology • cell division • cell membrane • cell nucleus • Cervical cancer • Charles Darwin • Chemotherapy • Chromatography • chromosome • clinical trial • Clinical Trials • Colorectal Cancer • contact inhibition • dating by radio-isotopes • Demographic Transition • Differentiation • Disease • DNA, Bacterial • DNA damage (naturally occurring) • DNA repair • DNA Replication • DNA Synthesis • Embryo • Enzyme • Ephrussi, Boris • Epidemic • epidemiology • epidemiology of cancer • Escherichia coli • Exons • Feathers • fossils and evolution • Frederick the Great • gap junctions • Gene • gene expression • genetic code • Genetic Engineering • geneticist • Genetic Linkage • genetic maps • Germ Cell • Greenhouse Effect • hemoglobin • hepatocyte • Hodgkin’s Disease • homeotic genes • Infection • Ingenuity • in vitro tranformation • Jefferson, Thomas • Jenner, Edward • Keratin • Koch, Robert • Lacks, Henrietta • Leprosy • leukemia • Life • Life Expectancy • life on earth, origin of • Liver Cancer • Lung Cancer • Macromolecules • macroparasitism • malignant melanoma • McGill-Queen's University Press • melanocyte migration • Mendelian Inheritance • Messenger RNA • Metabolism • Microorganism • Mobile Genetic Elements • Molecular Biology • Molecule • mortality rate • Multicellular organism • mutagen • mutation rate • nasopharyngeal cancer • Nirenberg, Marshall • Nucleic acid • Nucleic acid double helix • nucleic acid hybridization • Nucleic acid sequence • Nucleotide • Nutrition • Oncogene • Oncogenes • operators • Oral Cancer • organism • ovarian cancer • Pap smears • pathogen • Pathology • Pauling, Linus • Penicillin • penicillin production • Pheromones • Phosphate • phylogenetic tree • Probability • Promoter (genetics) • promoters • Protein • Protein primary structure • Public awareness of science • Receptor (biochemistry) • RNA • RNA Splicing • Science • Scientist • skin cancer • Statistic • Technology • Thomas Robert Malthus • Transformation (genetics) • Tuberculosis • year • yeast
• ISBN-10: 0-691-22533-8 / 0691225338
• ISBN-13: 978-0-691-22533-3 / 9780691225333