Epigenetics: The Ultimate
Mystery of Inheritance
Richard C. Francis
For more than 10 years, scientists
have known nearly every letter in the
human genetic instruction book. But
perhaps more interesting than those
letters are the doodles in the margins
and the highlighted passages — chemical modifications to DNA and its associated proteins known as epigenetic
marks. These scribbles may actually
control how genes function, and thus
how a person looks and acts. And these
changes are passed along to future
generations, like carbon copy overlays
in new editions.
Researchers are only beginning
to decipher this cryptic language,
but already it’s clear that whatever
these graffiti have to say is going to be
important. Such epigenetic modification may be at the root of many diseases, for example. Epigenetics links
external experiences to the molecular
machinery inside cells. Francis’ book is
Rambunctious Garden
Emma Marris
What does it mean to be wild, and can
humans restore wildness to a planet
they’ve spent their history trying to
tame? Marris hauls out a wheelbarrow-
load of research indicating that
humans have altered nearly every inch
of the terrestrial landscape at one time
or another (even ignoring the global
transport of air pollutants and pertur-
bation of the climate). So any claim
that a place is “pristine,” she argues,
Marris recounts
efforts under way across the globe to
“rewild” various sites to conditions
that existed a century — if not 10 mil-
lennia — ago. Such projects invariably
intended as a guided tour of this mysterious new landscape.
Each chapter starts with an enter-
taining or intriguing example of how
epigenetics affects human and animal
biology and inheritance. It’s not often
you find José Canseco, mouse moth-
ers, Dutch famine
victims, sea urchins,
identical twins and
Tasmanian devils
all in the same book,
but you will here.
Francis just man-
ages to save his story
from crossing into
textbook territory by weaving these
examples throughout the chapters.
It’s still early days for the science of
epigenetics, and researchers keep discovering layer after layer of epigenetic
wallpaper plastered over DNA. Francis
hits the highlights here, but stay tuned
for more installments in this fascinating new science. — Tina Hesman Saey
W. W. Norton & Co., 2011, 234 p., $25.95
require compromises. Once-keystone
species may no longer walk or slither
across the planet. Budgets may not
stretch to do more than a partial job.
Unurbanized spaces may be too small
to support big carnivores.
If no place is pristine, determining
what should be restored ultimately
becomes a judgment call. So does
determining the benchmarks biologists
might use to measure success.
None of these constraints argue for
throwing in the towel, or trowel, Marris
says. She points to regions where allowing small areas along roads or farms to
go untended has brought back species
that people had assumed were gone
for good. She invites readers to turn
the idea of what constitutes smart gardening on its head. One example: Tiny
patches of the urban landscape — like
yards — could be encouraged (with a
little help) to evolve into novel, yet
sustainable, marriages of native and
not-so-native species. — Janet Raloff
The Sibling Effect
Jeffrey Kluger
A review of recent
research shows how
siblings affect each
other, covering topics
such as birth order, blended families
and parents who play favorites. River-
head Books, 2011, 320 p., $26.95
Cosmos Close-up
Giles Sparrow
A collection of astro-
nomical images taken
by telescopes and spacecraft of all
kinds gives brief explanations of
the science behind each highlighted
object. Firefly Books, 2011,
320 p., $29.95
The Exquisite
Butterfly Companion
Hazel Davies
This guide to 100
butterfly and moth
species comes with a set of butterfly-
shaped illustrations to use in craft
projects. Sterling Signature, 2011,
88 p., $14.95
Brain Bugs
Dean Buonomano
A neuroscientist gives
an entertaining look
into the brain’s hard-
ware and software
flaws and how they
affect everyday life. W. W. Norton & Co.,
2011, 310 p., $25.95
The Beginning
of Infinity
David Deutsch
A physicist explores
the elaborate relation-
ship between science
and other realms of
human endeavor, with a focus on
physical, biological and social phe-
nomena. Viking, 2011, 487 p., $30
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