The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 288 pages
• Published by: W. W. Norton
• Edition: 1st Edition October 9, 2006
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0393061639
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393061635
• Book Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 14.4 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
Picking up where scientists like Richard Dawkins have left off, Carroll, a professor of genetics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (Endless Forms Most gorgeous: The New Science of Evo-Devo), has written a fast-paced look at how DNA demonstrates the evolutionary process. Natural selection eliminates harmful changes and embraces beneficial ones, and each change leaves its signature on a species' DNA codes. For example, the Antarctic ice fish today has no red blood cells; yet a fossilized gene for hemoglobin remains in its DNA, showing that the fish has adapted over 55 million years by losing the red blood cells that thicken blood and make it harder to pump in extreme cold. The fish has developed other features that allow it to absorb and circulate blood without hemoglobin. . Carroll points out that by looking at the DNA of these ice fish species, it's possible to map its origins as well as the history of the South Atlantic's geology. He also uses dolphins, colobus monkeys and microbes to demonstrate how deeply evolution is etched in DNA. While searches for the genetic basis for evolution are hardly new, Carroll offers some provocative and convincing evidence. 7 pages of color illus.; 50 black and white illus. (Oct.)
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From AudioFile
In a modern coda to Darwins laws, Sean Carroll looks at the evolutionary concept of the fittest. Although not intended for casual readers, the audiobook discusses in satisfying scientific detail the current knowledge of evolution on a molecular basis and labels it genomics. Narrator Patrick Lawlor picks just the right pace for such a weighty tome, leaving enough time for listeners to absorb great detail but not be narcotized. He never misses with the complex vocabulary and finds an agreeable tone to keep listener interest high. Those who know Lawlors other readings will again be amazed at his proficiency with the requirements of so many kinds of literature. An open mind will find the audiobook challenging and rewarding. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Reader Reviews
Richard Dawkins wrote a very enjoyable book titled The Ancestors Tale. It traces our evolution backwards, from humans, through apes and monkeys and so on, back to simple one-celled organisms. It tells the who of evolution: which species were descended from which. The Making of the Fittest tells the how and why: how variations appear in organisms and why they survive, or don't. This is the story of natural selection. Darwin told the story, but a lot more has been learned since then, especially in recent decades, and Sean B. Carroll has been one of the discoverers. But, unlike many researchers, he can write a readable book for beginners. Carroll focuses on DNA because that's of prime importance. When DNA is copied, for the reproduction of the cell or the organism, the copy is not always exact. The new variant is usually harmful, but might be helpful. Carroll shows, using elementary arithmetic, why helpful variants occur and prosper much more often that most people would guess. Keep in mind that, when a bad gene does come along, the organism usually dies and the gene disappears from the pool. The good genes usually accumulate. Carroll tells the story mostly through examples. For example, we humans are descended from animals that could see only 2 colors. Carroll tells of the duplication of the gene for one of the colors and the mutation of the second copy to react to a third color. (I simplify; Carroll tells more of the story.) Duplication and subsequent mutation of genes is very important in evolution. It allows organisms to develop new capabilities without losing the old. Another important mechanism involves genes which control the expression of other genes. Even with no change in a given gene, a change that causes the gene to be expressed in a new place or at an additional stage in development can give rise to a new capability with no harm to the old. (Again I simplify.) Gene duplication, changes in gene expression, and other mutations leave traces in our DNA and these give clues to our ancestry. This fact explains the book's subtitle. More important to Carroll, these traces also demonstrate natural selection at work. To give a personal example, an examination of my genome would show that the gene which shuts off lactose digestion in adults had been knocked out by mutation; as a result, I have a source of nutrition that is not available to most humans. There's not much that one has to know to read this book. It probably helps to know that a gene is a segment of DNA and that the sequence of its bases determines the sequence of amino acids that makes up a protein. However, Carroll explains this. I haven't been a beginner for a few decades now, but I think Making of the Fittest will be accessible to a bright high-school. As elementary as it is, it still has information that is of interest to me. The most important concerns the evolution or the eye. (He doesn't indicate the value of a cup-shaped eye: the animal can tell the direction from which the light comes by the part of the eye which isn't receiving it. And an eye that has only a small opening can form a rough image even without a lens.) Carroll says a lot about disproving creationist arguments. This is probably futile. Most creationists are convinced that they have a Higher Truth revealed to them by God Himself. This book will, however, be useful for people who accept creationism simply because they don't know the science. And, of course, for beginners who are simply interested in the science. For those who are interested in the material in this book and would like more information, there are a few books, ranging from elementary to advanced, which I recommend and which I have reviewed. Two are by Sean Carroll himself, on the topic of "evolutionary developmental biology; one (Endless Forms Most Beautiful) is excellent for those who have absorbed the material in Making of the Fittest and the other (From DNA to Diversity) is considerably more technical. Other books cover different related material. Click on "", above for the reviews. (There are 3 pages of them.) Or, to see only books related to evolution, click on my name and, on the profile page, click on the Listmania "Natural Processes That Promote Evolution".