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

253 Pages·2007·3.71 MB·English

by  Sean B. Carroll

More praise for
The Making of the Fittest
“So many things in this book that I haven’t read before…. I recommend it to
everybody who wants to understand more because it is written in such simple yet
detailed language, quite a pleasure to read.”
—Ira Flatow, NPR “Science Friday”
“Carroll is an adept and wide-ranging writer…. Reading The Making of the
Fittest is like spending a few hours with an extremely knowledgeable and
enthusiastic dinner companion.”
—Steve Olson, Washington Post
“Conveying the excitement of current research while also providing a firm
foundation of why we know what we know is a rare gift. In The Making of the
Fittest, Carroll offers a graceful and insightful view of the explanatory power of
evolution.”
—Douglas Erwin, American Scientist
“Excellent…. Carroll’s book will certainly help the public to understand
evolution more clearly.”
—Brian Charlesworth, Nature
“With fervor and clarity, Carroll amasses a glut of facts to refute the twisted
logic of the anti-Darwinist camp.”
—Josie Glausiusz, Discover
“Carroll is not as rude and impatient as I am with those Luddites of the life
sciences who, at the first hint of disagreement with their beliefs, stick their
fingers in their ears and sing, ‘La la la.’ His book is friendly and charming and,
by its conclusion, quietly devastating in its condemnation of stupidity. Read it
and shout, ‘Hallelujah!’”
—Peter Birnie, Vancouver Sun
“Students and teachers of biology will particularly benefit from his readable
treatment of the evolutionary process. An essential addition to every school,
public, and academic library.”
—Library Journal
“A fast-paced look at how DNA demonstrates the evolutionary process….
Carroll offers some provocative and convincing evidence.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Of all the scientists in the world today, there is no one with whom Charles
Darwin would rather spend an evening than Sean Carroll.”
—Michael Ruse, author of The Evolution-Creation Struggle
“Sean Carroll is our plain-spoken emissary from the next great revolution in
biology. His earlier book, Endless Forms Most Beautiful, provides a fine
introduction to the amazing field called Evo Devo. Now in The Making of the
Fittest he offers something even more fundamental—glimpses of what
molecular genetics is revealing about the process and course of evolution. This
book is fascinating, lucid, surprising, and (in the truest sense) essential.”
—David Quammen, author of The Reluctant Mr. Darwin and The
Song of the Dodo
“Crime-scene investigators love DNA evidence. It can close a case that couldn’t
be solved any other way. This fascinating book presents the DNA evidence for
evolution, and anyone who reads it should agree that it’s an open-and-shut case.
I hope The Making of the Fittest will make a difference in the one and only place
where Darwin’s case is still seriously debated: the court of public opinion.”
—Jonathan Weiner, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Beak of
the Finch
“Sean Carroll’s gift as a writer is the way in which he invites his readers to see
science from the inside and the ease with which he explains the scientific
wonders of cutting-edge research in biology. Always captivating, always
accessible, The Making of the Fittest is a book for all readers, and one that
fulfills Darwin’s promise that the science of evolution would ultimately
illuminate every aspect of the study of life itself. In Carroll’s hands, it surely
does.”
—Kenneth R. Miller, author of Finding Darwin’s God
ALSO BY SEAN B. CARROLL
Endless Forms Most Beautiful:
The New Science of Evo Devo
The Making of the Fittest
DNA AND THE ULTIMATE FORENSIC RECORD OF EVOLUTION
Sean B. Carroll
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY
Jamie W. Carroll and Leanne M. Olds
W. W. NORTON & COMPANY
NEW YORK LONDON
Copyright © 2006 by Sean B. Carroll
All rights reserved
First published as a Norton 2007
For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write
to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York,
NY 10110
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Carroll, Sean B.
The making of the fittest: DNA and the ultimate forensic record of evolution/
Sean B. Carroll.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN: 978-0-393-06969-3
1. DNA. 2. Evolution (Biology) I. Title.
QP624.C37 2006
572.8'6—dc22
2006017197
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110
www.wwnorton.com
W. W. Norton & Company Ltd., Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T
3QT
For Joan H. Carroll and the late J. Robert Carroll.
Thanks for the DNA—and all of my mutations.
Contents
Preface Beyond Any Reasonable Doubt
Chapter 1 Introduction: The Bloodless Fish of Bouvet Island
Chapter 2 The Everyday Math of Evolution: Chance, Selection, and Time
Chapter 3 Immortal Genes: Running in Place for Eons
Chapter 4 Making the New from the Old
Chapter 5 Fossil Genes: Broken Pieces of Yesterday’s Life
Chapter 6 Déjà Vu: How and Why Evolution Repeats Itself
Chapter 7 Our Flesh and Blood: Arms Races, the Human Race, and Natural
Selection
Chapter 8 The Making and Evolution of Complexity
Chapter 9 Seeing and Believing
Chapter 10 The Palm Trees of Wyoming
Sources and Further Reading
Acknowledgments
The Making of the Fittest
Forensic DNA analysis. The banding pattern in each lane is a “profile” of
the DNA of crime scene samples and potential suspects. The bloodstain
DNA matches that of suspect 3 and no others. Photograph copyright
Cellmark Diagnostics.