The Mechanics of Life: A Closer Look at the Inner Workings of Nature

291 Pages·2017·6.711 MB·English

by  Timothy Ganesan

SYSTEMS BIOLOGY – THEORY, TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS

T M L
HE ECHANICS OF IFE

A C L
LOSER OOK AT
THE INNER WORKINGS OF NATURE

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S B – T ,
YSTEMS IOLOGY HEORY
T A
ECHNIQUES AND PPLICATIONS

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SYSTEMS BIOLOGY – THEORY, TECHNIQUES AND APPLICATIONS

T M L
HE ECHANICS OF IFE

A C L
LOSER OOK AT
I W N
THE NNER ORKINGS OF ATURE

TIMOTHY GANESAN
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ISBN: (cid:28)(cid:26)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:20)(cid:16)(cid:24)(cid:22)(cid:25)(cid:20)(cid:21)(cid:16)(cid:28)(cid:22)(cid:27)(cid:16)(cid:19)(cid:3)(cid:11)(cid:72)(cid:37)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:78)(cid:12)

Published by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. † New York
CONTENTS

Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1 Parasites: Complexity beyond Evolution 1
Chapter 2 Antibiotics, Vaccines and Epidemics 43
Chapter 3 Accounting for Genes 79
Chapter 4 Physics of Life 125
Chapter 5 Stranger Things in Life 197
Final Remarks 265
Author Contact Information 269
Index 271

PREFACE

“What gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know, it’s what we
know for sure that just ain’t so.”
– Mark Twain

In the past couple of years, biology and medicine have significantly
evolved. Technological developments in robotics, computing and quantum
physics have spilled over into many disciplines including the life sciences.
The idea of the solitary biologist taking samples from the field and
working in a lab with test tubes and chemical apparatus is a thing of the
past. Today, bio labs are filled with scientists across various disciplines
like physics, mathematics and engineering. Most equipment are completely
automated and robotic. They are often controlled by powerful computers
acquiring vast amounts of data for rigorous analysis. These advances have
sped up the rate of research done in biology and medicine. Although the
tech revolution in biology has been going on for some time now, things
really started taking a turn in 2010 when the geneticist, Craig Venter
created the world's first synthetic life form. His team consisted of 20
scientists working close to over a decade. Their target was to completely
engineer an organism from scratch. They believed that if they could do
this, then the sky was the limit. They could then design organisms that
viii Timothy Ganesan
churn out biofuels or manufacture vaccines. Basically they can make living
things do whatever they wanted. But to achieve this feat, Venter's team had
to fuse various scientific disciplines – from the technology they used to the
powerful computers needed for simulation. They did just this. Successfully
engineered, they christened their artificial bacteria, Mycoplasma
Laboratorium.
The availability of powerful computers have enabled scientists to
significantly cut down experiments, expediting research. Venter's research
would have taken several decades if not for cutting-edge computing and
robotics available to them. Speaking of robots, they too have found their
way into the life sciences. In medicine, robots are already being used for
certain types of surgery and therapies. In 2014, Australia's Science Agency
collaborated with India to explore the depths of the Indian Ocean
(Davidson, 2014). This research focused on what goes on in the depths of
the Indian Ocean. To study this, the teams released underwater robots that
go to different depths to take measurements. The data was then sent back
data to the surface. The robots gathered critical data on plankton
populations. Being food for most marine creatures, plankton are seated at
the base of the food chain. Such data gives us a good idea of the condition
of the ecosystem. And a good understanding of the ecology is key to
conservation. Towards such efforts, ecologists are heavily relying on
computer programs to simulate whole ecosystems.
Besides robotics and computers, the recent years also saw significant
strides in genetic engineering. The most effective technique currently used
for gene editing is CRISPR. The method allows for molecular-level
accuracy for manipulating genes. Using CRISPR, scientists are even
thinking about stopping entire epidemics. This is biology today; a mixture
of techniques from across various fields. Along with these advances, this
book also touches on issues related to disease spread, medical efforts and
scientific practices. When we talk about advances in biology, it's only
natural that we stumble upon evolution; the fundamental theory of life. We
see the mechanics of how bacteria evolve antibiotic resistance and why
parasites are so complicated. Reviewing the evolution of life on our planet,