The music of life : biology beyond the genome

0199295735......Page 1
Introduction......Page 10
Acknowledgements......Page 14
Introducing the Silmans......Page 16
DNA-mania......Page 18
Problems with genetic determinism......Page 21
Origin of the appeal of genetic determinism......Page 26
Life is not a protein soup......Page 30
Mapping the alternative metaphors......Page 32
The Chinese Emperor and the poor farmer......Page 38
The genome and combinatorial explosion......Page 42
An organ of 30 000 pipes......Page 46
Is the genome the ‘book of life’?......Page 48
The French bistro omelette......Page 50
The ambiguity of language......Page 52
The Silmans return......Page 54
How is the genome played?......Page 57
Is the genome a program?......Page 58
Control of gene expression......Page 61
Downward causation takes many forms......Page 63
Other forms of downward causation......Page 64
Where is the program of life?......Page 66
Beginnings of biological computation......Page 70
Reconstructing heart rhythm: the first attempt......Page 71
The integrative level of heart rhythm......Page 76
Nor is it reductionism in disguise......Page 80
Other natural rhythms......Page 82
Novartis Foundation debates......Page 89
Problems with bottom-up......Page 90
Problems with top-down......Page 93
Middle-out!......Page 94
The organs of the body......Page 97
The virtual heart......Page 98
The Silmans find some tropical islands......Page 103
The Silmans’ mistake......Page 107
Modes and keys......Page 111
Multicellular harmony......Page 112
A historical note on ‘Lamarckism’......Page 114
The Chinese writing system......Page 116
Modularity in genes......Page 118
Gene–protein networks......Page 119
Fail-safe redundancy......Page 121
The grand composer......Page 127
9 The Opera Theatre: the Brain......Page 128
How do we see the world?......Page 129
At Aziz’ restaurant......Page 134
Action and will: a physiologist and aphilosopher experiment......Page 137
Explanatory shift between levels......Page 140
The self is not a neural object......Page 143
The deep-frozen brain......Page 146
The resurrected self ?......Page 147
Jupitereans......Page 150
Role of culture in our view of the self and the brain......Page 152
The self as metaphor......Page 156
The artist disappears......Page 158
Bibliography......Page 159
Index......Page 162