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The genetic gods : evolution and belief in human affairs

Author

Avise, John C.

Title

The genetic gods : evolution and belief in human affairs / John C. Avise.

Format

Book

Published

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1998.

Description

viii, 279 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Notes

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

• 1. The Doctrines of Biological Science
• 2. Geneses
• 3. Genetic Maladies
• 4. Genetic Beneficence
• 5. Strategies of the Genes
• 6. Genetic Sovereignty
• 7. New Lords of Our Genes?
• 8. Meaning.

Summary

They mastermind our lives, shaping our features, our health, and our behavior, even in the sacrosanct realms of love and sex, religion, aging, and death. Yet we are the ones who house, perpetuate, and give the promise of immortality to these biological agents, our genetic gods. The link between genes and gods is hardly arbitrary, as the distinguished evolutionary geneticist John Avise reveals in this book. In clear, straight-forward terms, Avise reviews recent discoveries in molecular biology, evolutionary genetics, and human genetic engineering, and discusses the relevance of these findings to issues of ultimate concern traditionally reserved for mythology, theology, and religious faith.

Subject headings

Genetics--Popular works. Evolutionary genetics--Popular works.

Medical subjects

Biological Evolution. Genetics.

Genre heading

Popular works. Popular works. Popular works.

ISBN

0674346254 (cloth ; alk. paper) 9780674346253 (cloth ; alk. paper) 0674005333 9780674005334