Life

The newest addition to John Brockmans Edge.org series explores life itself, bringing together the worlds leading biologists, geneticists, and evolutionary theoristsincluding Richard Dawkins, Edward O. Wilson, J. Craig Venter, and Freeman Dyson.Scientists understanding of life is progressing more rapidly than at any point in human history, from the extraordinary decoding of DNA to the controversial emergence of biotechnology. Featuring pioneering biologists, geneticists, physicists, and science writers,Lifeexplains just how far weve comeand takes a brilliantly educated guess at where were heading.Richard Dawkins and J. Craig Venter compare genes to digital information, and sketch the frontiers of genomic research.Edward O. Wilson reveals what ants can teach us about building a superorganismand, in turn, about how cells build an organism. Elsewhere, David Haig reports new findings on how mothers and fathers individually influence the human genome, while Kary Mullis covers cutting edge treatments for dangerous viruses. And theres much more in this fascinating volume.We may never have all the answers. But the thinkers collected inLifeare asking questions that will keep us dreaming for generations.