Biology Beyond the Genome
by Denis Noble
Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2006. 167 pp. £12.99. ISBN 9780199295739.
Eric Werner
Traditionally the genome, DNA, is seen as the dominant force in living systems. In The Music of Life, Denis Noble criticizes this view. Challenging the foundations of current biological sciences, he questions the central dogma, its unidirectional view of information flow, and its imposition of a bottom-up methodology for research in the life sciences. Behind the scenes, a conceptual revolution is transforming biology and medicine: systems biology applies the methods of mathematics, computer science, engineering, physics, and, even, philosophy to understanding living systems.
Noble, an emeritus professor of physiology at the University of Oxford (and colleague of mine) is one of the founders of systems biology, and his work on modeling of the heart is a paradigm in the field. The Music of Life offers an excellent informal introduction to the concepts and issues that form the bedrock of systems biology. Noble orchestrates a coherent symphony of ideas spanning genes, embryology, evolution, and consciousness.
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