A History of Biochemistry PDF Download

Author: Mark Lorch
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0192570625
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 144

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Book Description
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a means to power the cell, machinery to carry out varied processes within the cell, a structure within which everything runs, and also governance through a web of interlocking chemical reactions. Biochemistry is the study of those reactions, the molecules that are created, manipulated, and destroyed as a result of them, and the massive macromolecules (such as DNA, cytoskeletons, proteins and carbohydrates) that form the chemical machinery and structures on which these biochemical reactions take place. It didn't take long for an understanding of the chemistry of life to turn into a desire to manipulate it. Drugs and therapies all aim to modify biochemical processes for good or ill: Penicillin, derived from mould, stops bacteria making their cell walls. Aspirin, with its origins in willow bark, inhibits enzymes involved in inflammatory responses. A few nanograms of botulinum toxin (botox), can kill by preventing the release of neurotransmitters from the ends of nerves and so leads to paralysis and death, or give a wrinkle free forehead (if administered in very tiny quantities).This Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied, before considering the current science and innovations in the field, and the interaction between biochemistry, biotechnology, and synthetic biology. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Author: Graeme K. Hunter
Publisher: Academic Press
ISBN: 9780123618115
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Vital Forces tells the history of the 'biochemical revolution', a period of unprecedentedly rapid advance in human knowledge that profoundly affected our view of life and laid the foundation for modern medicine and biotechnology. The story is told in a clear, engaging, and absorbing manner. This delightful work relates the fascinating and staggering advances in concepts and theories over the last 200 years and introduces the major figures of the times. Vital Forces also describes the discovery of the molecular basis of life through the stories of the scientists involved, including such towering figures as Louis Pasteur, Gregor Mendel, Linus Pauling, and Francis Crick. Combining science and biography into a seamless chronological narrative, the author brings to life the successes and failures, collaborations and feuds, and errors and insights that produced the revolution in biology. * Vividly describes dramatic scientific discoveries, personalities, feuds and rivalries * Answers a general readers quest to understand the nature of life, and the relevance of biochemistry/molecular biology to modern medicine, industry and agriculture.

Author: Marcel Florkin
Publisher: Gulf Professional Publishing
ISBN: 9780444518668
Category : Biochemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 450

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Author: Arne Hessenbruch
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134263015
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 986

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Book Description
The Reader's Guide to the History of Science looks at the literature of science in some 550 entries on individuals (Einstein), institutions and disciplines (Mathematics), general themes (Romantic Science) and central concepts (Paradigm and Fact). The history of science is construed widely to include the history of medicine and technology as is reflected in the range of disciplines from which the international team of 200 contributors are drawn.

Author: Leslie Glustrom
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biochemistry
Languages : en
Pages : 472

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Book Description

Author: Bernard S. Schlessinger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000755126
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
This book, first published in 1982, offers an examination of the special nature of biochemistry collections. It focuses on the production, control, and use of the literature – diverse in nature, and analysed here by specialist contributors.

Author: Michel Morange
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674001695
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Every day it seems the media focus on yet another new development in biology--gene therapy, the human genome project, the creation of new varieties of animals and plants through genetic engineering. These possibilities have all emanated from molecular biology. A History of Molecular Biology is a complete but compact account for a general readership of the history of this revolution. Michel Morange, himself a molecular biologist, takes us from the turn-of-the-century convergence of molecular biology's two progenitors, genetics and biochemistry, to the perfection of gene splicing and cloning techniques in the 1980s. Drawing on the important work of American, English, and French historians of science, Morange describes the major discoveries--the double helix, messenger RNA, oncogenes, DNA polymerase--but also explains how and why these breakthroughs took place. The book is enlivened by mini-biographies of the founders of molecular biology: Delbrück, Watson and Crick, Monod and Jacob, Nirenberg. This ambitious history covers the story of the transformation of biology over the last one hundred years; the transformation of disciplines: biochemistry, genetics, embryology, and evolutionary biology; and, finally, the emergence of the biotechnology industry. An important contribution to the history of science, A History of Molecular Biology will also be valued by general readers for its clear explanations of the theory and practice of molecular biology today. Molecular biologists themselves will find Morange's historical perspective critical to an understanding of what is at stake in current biological research.

Author: G N Cantor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000158853
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 754

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Book Description
The 67 chapters of this book describe and analyse the development of Western science from 1500 to the present day. Divided into two major sections - 'The Study of the History of Science' and 'Selected Writings in the History of Science' - the volume describes the methods and problems of research in the field and then applies these techniques to a wide range of fields. Areas covered include: * the Copernican Revolution * Genetics * Science and Imperialism * the History of Anthropology * Science and Religion * Magic and Science. The companion is an indispensable resource for students and professionals in History, Philosophy, Sociology and the Sciences as well as the History of Science. It will also appeal to the general reader interested in an introduction to the subject.

Author: L.A. Stocken
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 008053063X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
The account in this inaugural volume of the series covers the period 1900 to 1960, but also outlines the principal developments in earlier centuries from which biochemistry emerged. Findings are considered in the light of present knowledge, rather than in a rigid historical framework.

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Medicine
Languages : en
Pages : 996

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