by Carl Zimmer
JOHN CAIRNS, THEN AT HARVARD: Cairns, Overbaugh, and Miller, 1988.
SUSAN ROSENBERG OF BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE: Ponder, Fonville, and Rosenberg, 2005.
NATURAL SELECTION, TENAILLON PROPOSES: Tenaillon, Denamur, and Matic, 2004.
ANTIBIOTICS MAY ALSO DRIVE THE RISE OF HIGH MUTATORS: Denamur et al., 2005.
WHEN NOTHING OF THE SORT HAS TAKEN PLACE: Roth et al., 2006.
SUSAN LINDQUIST OF THE WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: Queitsch, Sangster, and Lindquist, 2002.
ICHIRO MATSUMURA, A BIOLOGIST AT EMORY UNIVERSITY: Patrick et al., 2007.
OTHER SPECIES MAY DEPEND ON THE SAME POTENTIAL: Francino, 2005.
SOME OF THESE EXTRA GENES: Myllykangas et al., 2006; Roth et al., 2006.
FEW SCIENTISTS OUTSIDE JAPAN: Watanabe, 1963.
IN A SURVEY OF E. COLI LIVING IN THE GREAT LAKES: Bartoloni et al., 2006.
EIGHT: OPEN SOURCE
AND IN HIS INTESTINES: Fricker, Spigelman, and Fricker, 1997.
LAWRENCE AND OCHMAN ESTIMATED: J. G. Lawrence and Ochman, 1998.
IN 2006, OCHMAN AND SEVERAL OTHER COLLEAGUES: Wirth et al., 2006.
SCIENTISTS COULD THEN COMPARE IT: Perna et al., 2001.
HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER MIGHT HAVE IMPORTED A FEW GENES: Wirth et al., 2006.
OF ALL THE E. COLI GENES SCIENTISTS HAD NOW IDENTIFIED: Welch et al., 2002.
THE LIST OF GENES SHARED: Binnewies et al., 2006; Chen et al., 2006.
IT’S UP TO 11,000 GENES NOW: David Ussery, personal communication.
VIRUSES IN THE OCEAN TRANSFER GENES TO NEW HOSTS: Sullivan and Baross, 2007.
OPEN-SOURCE EVOLUTION: Frost et al., 2005.
JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE GENES SHIGELLA GAINED: Casalino et al., 2005.
SCIENTISTS WHO STUDY E. COLI O157:H7: Wick et al., 2005.
THEY SPECULATE THAT O157:H7’S TOXINS STIMULATE: Ferens, Cobbold, and Hovde, 2006.
WHEN PROTOZOANS ATTACK E. COLI COLONIES: Meltz Steinberg and Levin, 2007.
THEY FOUND GENES FOR CELL-KILLING FACTORS: Hejnova et al., 2005.
IT’S POSSIBLE THAT THE BACTERIA BENEFIT: Gamage et al., 2003, 2004, 2006; Shaikh and Tarr, 2003; Zhang et al., 2006.
ICHIZO KOBAYASHI, A GENETICIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TOKYO: Kobayashi, 2001.
NINE: PALIMPSEST
“THE COMPLETE GENOME SEQUENCE OF E. COLI K-12”: Blattner et al., 1997.
MY FAVORITE IS AN OLD BATTERED BOOK: Chong, 2006.
CARL WOESE, A BIOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS: Woese and Fox, 1977.
W. FORD DOOLITTLE, A BIOLOGIST AT DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY: Doolittle, 2000.
THE TREE OF LIFE STILL STANDS: Ge, Wang, and Kim, 2005.
HOWARD OCHMAN CAME TO THIS CONCLUSION: Lerat et al., 2005.
AT THE CENTER OF THE WHEEL IS THE LAST COMMON ANCESTOR: Ciccarelli et al., 2006.
CHRISTOS OUZOUNIS AND HIS COLLEAGUES: Ouzounis et al., 2006.
FOUR BILLION YEARS AGO, EARTH WAS REGULARLY DEVASTATED: Battistuzzi, Feijao, and Hedges, 2004.
OTHERS LIVE ON THE SIDES OF UNDERSEA VOLCANOES: Hou et al., 2004.
BUT SOME SPECIES, INCLUDING THE ANCESTORS OF E. COLI: Raymond and Segre, 2006.
TODAY E. COLI CAN STILL SWITCH BACK AND FORTH: Tomitani et al., 2006.
TODAY BACTERIA HAVE AN IMPRESSIVE RANGE OF DEFENSES: Matz and Kjelleberg, 2005; Matz et al., 2005.
THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE IN HARRISBURG: My account of Kitzmiller v. Dover is based on several sources, including Humes, 2007; Talbot, 2005; and TalkOrigins Archive, 2006.
“WE WOULD PREDICT THAT WE’D SEE”: Bliss, 1981.
“TO THE MICROMECHANICIANS OF INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT OPERATIONS”: Lumsden, 1994.
BIOLOGISTS AND MATHEMATICIANS ALIKE: Van Till, 2002.
“SUCH SYSTEMS SIMPLY DEFY DARWINIST EXPLANATIONS”: Hartwig, 2002.
“A SINGLE SYSTEM COMPOSED OF SEVERAL WELL-MATCHED, INTERACTING PARTS”: quotations from Behe, 1996, p. 39.
“IF IT LOOKS DESIGNED, MAYBE IT IS”: quoted in “Intelligently Designed Apparel and Merchandise,” CafePress.com, http://www.cafepress.com/accessresearch/982234; accessed June 27, 2007.
IN 2005, MARK PALLEN OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM: Ren et al., 2005.
PALLEN AND NICHOLAS MATZKE: Pallen and Matzke, 2006.
E. COLI’ S CONTROL NETWORKS HAVE AN ANCIENT HISTORY OF THEIR OWN: Cosentino Lagomarsino et al., 2007.
IN 2006, M. MADAN BABU, A BIOLOGIST AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE: Babu and Aravind, 2006.
ONE OF THE SIMPLEST MEANS: Zinser and Kolter, 2004.
E. COLI’ S NETWORK GREW IN A SIMILAR WAY: Zhou, Carlson, and Doyle, 2005.
“THE RNA WORLD”: Gesteland, Cech, and Atkins, 2006.
IN THE 1990S, RONALD BREAKER, A BIOCHEMIST AT YALE: Barrick and Breaker, 2007.
HE PROPOSES THAT THE PROFOUND SPLIT: Zimmer, 2006.
TEN: PLAYING NATURE
A $75 BILLION INDUSTRY: S. Lawrence, 2007b.
NOW 250 MILLION ACRES OF FARMLAND: S. Lawrence, 2007a.
A NEW KIND OF GENETIC ENGINEERING CALLED SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: Baker et al., 2006.
BIOTECHNOLOGY WAS BORN MANY TIMES: Bud, 1993.
THE FIRST NEOLITHIC BIOTECHNOLOGISTS WERE MANIPULATING MICROBES: Mira, Pushker, and Rodriguez-Valera, 2006.
BY BOMBARDING THE MOLD THAT MAKES PENICILLIN: Adrio and Demain, 2006.
J.B.S. HALDANE INDULGED IN SOME SCIENCE FICTION: Haldane, 1923.
AND THOSE TOOLS WOULD EVENTUALLY BE USED: My account of the history of genetic engineering is based mainly on Hall, 2002; Jackson and Stich, 1979; Krimsky, 1982; Rogers, 1977; Singer, 2001; Wade, 1977; Watson and Tooze, 1981; Wright, 1994; and Zilinskas and Zimmerman, 1986.
SOMEONE HAD ISOLATED GENES: Shapiro et al., 1969.
“THE STEPS DO NOT EXIST NOW”: quoted in Reinhold, 1969.
“ARE WE WISE ENOUGH TO BE TAMPERING”: quoted in Krimsky, 1982, p. 35.
“I DIDN’T WANT TO BE THE PERSON”: quoted in Krimsky, 1982, p. 31.
“NEW STRAINS OF LIFE—OR DEATH”: Cavalieri, 1976.
“IT WAS NEVER THE INTENTION”: Watson and Tooze, 1981, p. ix.
“SCIENTISTS ALONE DECIDED TO IMPOSE A MORATORIUM”: quoted in Jackson and Stich, 1979, p. 101.
“BY THE YEAR 2000 VIRTUALLY ALL THE MAJOR HUMAN DISEASES”: quoted in Dutton, Preston, and Pfund, 1988, p. 200.
IN 1977, THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES HELD A PUBLIC FORUM: National Academy of Sciences, 1977.
“FROM THE POINT OF PUBLIC HEALTH”: quoted from Cavalieri, 1976.
“AN IRREVERSIBLE ATTACK ON THE BIOSPHERE”: Chargaff and Simring, 1976.
“NIGHTMARISH AND DISASTROUS”: Berg and Cohen quoted in Watson and Tooze, 1981, p. 389.
“WE WERE JACKASSES”: Watson and Tooze, 1981, p. 437.
“I’M AFRAID THAT BY CRYING WOLF”: Watson and Tooze, 1981, p. 155.
HUMULIN, ITS MICROBE-PRODUCED INSULIN: Figure from Eli Lilly and Company, “Humulin,” http://www.lillydiabetes.com/product/humulin_family.jsp?reqNavId=5.3; accessed June 27, 2007.
“THE FIRST SYNTHETIC LIFE FORM”: Service, 2003, p. 640.
SCIENTISTS HAVE ADDED OVER THIRTY MORE UNNATURAL ACIDS: Wang, Xie, and Schultz, 2006.
MICHAEL ELOWITZ AT CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: Elowitz and Leibler, 2000.
THE SECOND REPORT CAME FROM THE LABORATORY OF JAMES COLLINS: T. S. Gardner, Cantor, and Collins, 2000.
IN 2004, STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AND THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO: Levskaya et al., 2005.
THE DRUG, KNOWN AS ARTEMISININ: M. C. Chang and Keasling, 2006.
SINCE 2001, DREW ENDY AND THOMAS KNIGHT OF MIT HAVE BEEN BUILDING: Endy, 2005.
GEORGE CHURCH AND HIS COLLEAGUES HAVE DRAWN UP A LIST: Forster and Church, 2006.
ALBERT LIBCHABER TOOK AN EVEN SIMPLER APPROACH: Noireaux et al., 2005.
“BIOTECH HAS ALREADY IGNITED WORLDWIDE PROTESTS”: quoted in ETC Group, 2006.
THEY FOUND THAT THE BACTERIA RAPIDLY DISAPPEARED:
Bogosian and Kane, 1991; Heitkamp et al., 1993.
STUDIES SUGGEST THAT EVEN IF AN ALIEN GENE GAVE BACTERIA A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: Nielsen and Townsend, 2004.
THE INCIDENCE OF TYPE 2 DIABETES HAS DOUBLED: Statistics from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Diabetes Data & Trends,” http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/statistics/prev/national/figpersons.htm; accessed June 27, 2007.
CASES OF DIABETES WORLDWIDE HAVE INCREASED TENFOLD: World Health Organization, Media Centre, “Diabetes,” http://www.who/int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs312/en/’ accessed June 27, 2007.
E. COLI HAS PROVIDED INSULIN: Eli Lilly Company, “Humulin,” http://www.lillydiabetes.com/product/humulin_family.jsp?reqNavId=5.3; accessed June 27, 2007.
THAT SUGAR COMES INCREASINGLY FROM HIGH-FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP: Crabb and Shetty, 1999.
THE COMPANY HAD TO PAY $50 MILLION TO SETTLE CHARGES: Nordenberg, 1999.
WE MUST RESIST EMPTY FEAR AND EMPTY HYPE: Avise, 2004.
“THE AFFLUENT NATIONS CAN AFFORD”: Borlaug, 2000, p. 489.
GOLDEN RICE, A STRAIN OF RICE ENGINEERED: Babili and Beyer, 2005.
“THIS RICE COULD SAVE A MILLION KIDS A YEAR”: Nash, 2000.
“IN FIGHTING AGAINST ‘GOLDEN RICE’ REACHING THE POOR”: Potrykus, 2001, p. 1160.
IT MAY NOT BRING MUCH BENEFIT AT ALL: Krawinkel, 2007.
VITAMIN A HAS TO BE CONSUMED ALONG WITH DIETARY FAT: Schnapp and Schiermeier, 2001.
ABOUT 80 PERCENT OF ALL THE TRANSGENIC CROPS: Service, 2007.
STUDIES INDICATED THAT FARMERS WHO GREW THE TRANSGENIC CROPS: Raney, 2006.
FARMERS BEGAN TO NOTICE HORSEWEED AND MORNING GLORY: Owen and Zelaya, 2005.
AND ONCE THE WEEDS EVOLVED THEIR RESISTANCE: Zelaya, Owen, and VanGessel, 2007.
THEY HAD ENGINEERED PLANTS WITH GENES THAT MAKE THEM RESISTANT: Behrens et al., 2007.
FARMERS CAN RESORT TO OLD-FASHIONED METHODS: Sandermann, 2006.
“WE CAN NOW TRANSFORM THAT EVOLUTIONARY TREE”: quoted in Jackson and Stich, 1979, p. 97.
THE MIT BIOLOGIST JONATHAN KING DECLARED: quoted in Hall, 2002, p. 51.
“THE GENETIC STRUCTURES OF LIVING BEINGS”: Silver, 2006, p. 287.
“LET THE EARTH BRING FORTH GRASS”: Gen. 1:11-24 (King James version).
“THOU SHALT NOT LET THY CATTLE”: Lev. 19:19 (King James version).
“NEITHER SHALT THOU LIE”: Lev. 18:23 (King James version).
“USING HUMAN PROCREATION”: Jones, 2006.
“REPUGNANCE MAY BE THE ONLY VOICE LEFT”: Kass and Wilson, 1998, p. 19.
PRESIDENT BUSH CALLED FOR A BAN: Bush, 2006.
“RESPECT FOR HUMAN DIGNITY AND THE INTEGRITY OF THE HUMAN SPECIES”: U.S. Congress, 2005.
“A THING EITHER IS OR IS NOT A WHOLE HUMAN BEING”: George and Gomez-Lobo, 2005, p. 202.
E. COLI STARVES AND SUFFERS: Chou, 2007.
EACH KIND HAS ITS OWN ESSENCE: Gelman, 2004.
“THE THING IS AN ABOMINATION”: Wells, 1896.
CONSIDER A GENE CALLED MICROCEPHALIN: Evans et al., 2006.
“IN A WORLD WHOSE ONCE-GIVEN NATURAL BOUNDARIES”: Kass, 1997.
AND SOME CHIMERAS WILL PROBABLY BE BANNED: Scott, 2006.
ELEVEN: N EQUALS 1
“BUT ITS DOMAIN HAS BEEN LIMITED”: Lederberg, 1963.
“INVASION FROM MARS? MICROBES!”: Los Angeles Examiner, March 20, 1960.
“THESE QUESTIONS MIGHT BE ANSWERED IN TWO WAYS”: Lederberg, 1963.
“WE CAN DEFER OUR CONCERN”: Lederberg, 1960, p. 394.
NASA AGREED: Dick, 1998.
“THAT’S THE BALL GAME”: quoted in Dick and Strick, 2004.
“WE CAN NO LONGER BE CONFIDENT”: quoted in McElheny, 1976.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY BLURS INTO ASTROBIOLOGY: Benner, Ricardo, and Carrigan, 2004.
PLANETS MAY TRADE BITS OF THEMSELVES: Gladman et al., 2005; Warmflash and Weiss, 2005.
THE MOST EXTREME FORM OF PANSPERMIA: Napier, 2004.
IT FLOATS INSIDE THE BODIES OF THE ASTRONAUTS: La Duc et al., 2004.
“THE FIELD IS HAUNTED BY THINKING”: quoted in Clarke, 2001, p. 248.
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