Dna Double Helix The Chemistry Of Cancer

This unique look at the study of DNA goes beyond the science and explores the lives of four great scientists: James Watson, Francis Crick, Maurice Wilkins, and Rosalind Franklin. It was through their complex personal interactions and their devotion to the science that led to breakthroughs surrounding the structure of DNA and our modern understanding of genetics. Readers can learn that science is not about one individual and his or her discoveries, but is the work of many. Numerous scientific breakthroughs can be attributed to competition and rivalry.

The past decade has witnessed a burst of activity and interest in the discovery and design of drugs that cleave DNA and RNA with sequence specificity. This interest stems from the potential of this class of compounds to be useful as therapeutics agents, in particular in the field of the treatment of cancer and viral diseases. Further, a side benefit of such studies is the discovery of novel mechanisms and uses of such agents as tools in the study of structure and function of nucleic acids. Up to now, no international meeting has been organized to recognize the immense progress that has been made in this field. The field of DNA and RNA cleavage by natural and chemical drugs now includes researchers working with rather dissimilar agents but with common underlying mechanisms of DNA damage. Until recently, these scientists were working in separate, apparently unrelated areas, such as the enediyne antibiotics and their synthetic analogues, bleomycin-metal complexes, metal-drug complexes, ribozymes and ribozyme mimics, and antisense and antigene oligonucleotides, etc. It is now clear that these research areas have in common strategies and targets. Researchers representing these areas worked together at this workshop where these common interests were discussed and scientific ideas modified and criticized. Such a workshop should lead to new research approaches and collaborative interactions, and is expected to significantly enhance the progress in the field of DNA and RNA cleavage.

This report considers the biological and behavioral mechanisms that may underlie the pathogenicity of tobacco smoke. Many Surgeon General's reports have considered research findings on mechanisms in assessing the biological plausibility of associations observed in epidemiologic studies. Mechanisms of disease are important because they may provide plausibility, which is one of the guideline criteria for assessing evidence on causation. This report specifically reviews the evidence on the potential mechanisms by which smoking causes diseases and considers whether a mechanism is likely to be operative in the production of human disease by tobacco smoke. This evidence is relevant to understanding how smoking causes disease, to identifying those who may be particularly susceptible, and to assessing the potential risks of tobacco products.

Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine, Ninth Edition, offers a balanced view of the most current knowledge of cancer science and clinical oncology practice. This all-new edition is the consummate reference source for medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, internists, surgical oncologists, and others who treat cancer patients. A translational perspective throughout, integrating cancer biology with cancer management providing an in depth understanding of the disease An emphasis on multidisciplinary, research-driven patient care to improve outcomes and optimal use of all appropriate therapies Cutting-edge coverage of personalized cancer care, including molecular diagnostics and therapeutics Concise, readable, clinically relevant text with algorithms, guidelines and insight into the use of both conventional and novel drugs Includes free access to the Wiley Digital Edition providing search across the book, the full reference list with web links, illustrations and photographs, and post-publication updates

Fifty years ago, James D. Watson, then just twentyfour, helped launch the greatest ongoing scientific quest of our time. Now, with unique authority and sweeping vision, he gives us the first full account of the genetic revolution—from Mendel’s garden to the double helix to the sequencing of the human genome and beyond. Watson’s lively, panoramic narrative begins with the fanciful speculations of the ancients as to why “like begets like” before skipping ahead to 1866, when an Austrian monk named Gregor Mendel first deduced the basic laws of inheritance. But genetics as we recognize it today—with its capacity, both thrilling and sobering, to manipulate the very essence of living things—came into being only with the rise of molecular investigations culminating in the breakthrough discovery of the structure of DNA, for which Watson shared a Nobel prize in 1962. In the DNA molecule’s graceful curves was the key to a whole new science. Having shown that the secret of life is chemical, modern genetics has set mankind off on a journey unimaginable just a few decades ago. Watson provides the general reader with clear explanations of molecular processes and emerging technologies. He shows us how DNA continues to alter our understanding of human origins, and of our identities as groups and as individuals. And with the insight of one who has remained close to every advance in research since the double helix, he reveals how genetics has unleashed a wealth of possibilities to alter the human condition—from genetically modified foods to genetically modified babies—and transformed itself from a domain of pure research into one of big business as well. It is a sometimes topsy-turvy world full of great minds and great egos, driven by ambitions to improve the human condition as well as to improve investment portfolios, a world vividly captured in these pages. Facing a future of choices and social and ethical implications of which we dare not remain uninformed, we could have no better guide than James Watson, who leads us with the same bravura storytelling that made The Double Helix one of the most successful books on science ever published. Infused with a scientist’s awe at nature’s marvels and a humanist’s profound sympathies, DNA is destined to become the classic telling of the defining scientific saga of our age.

In 1962, Maurice Wilkins, Francis Crick, and James Watson received the Nobel Prize, but it was Rosalind Franklin's data and photographs of DNA that led to their discovery. Brenda Maddox tells a powerful story of a remarkably single-minded, forthright, and tempestuous young woman who, at the age of fifteen, decided she was going to be a scientist, but who was airbrushed out of the greatest scientific discovery of the twentieth century.