JUKES: MOLECULES & EVOLUTION

by Thomas H. Jukes

No dead organism can give rise to a living one; the thread of life must extend backward, unbroken, to its beginnings. This is the truism that has challenged science for about a century. Molecules and Evolution places major emphasis on the concept that the number and sequence of chemical basis in molecules of DNA are a cryptographic record of the evolutionary history of each species. The solution of the cryptogram and the evolutionary history of each species comes from the study of proteins and the genetic code. The author discusses the new knowledge of the chemical nature of mutations, of the base sequences in the genetic code, of the mechanism of protein synthesis, and gene duplication.

285 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1969