Main description:

Documents the confused early history of DNA, RNA and proteins - a transformative history of molecular biology like no other.

Integrates the influences of biochemistry and genetics on the landscape of molecular biology.

Chronicles the important discoveries, preconceptions and misconceptions that retarded or misdirected progress.

Highlights major pioneers and contributors to molecular biology, with a focus on RNA and noncoding DNA.

Summarizes the mounting evidence for the central roles of non-protein-coding RNA in cell and developmental biology.

Provides a thought-provoking retrospective and forward-looking perspective for advanced students and professional researchers.

Contents:

Preface, Chapter 1. Overview, Chapter 2. The genetic material?, Chapter 3. Halcyon days, Chapter 4. Worlds apart, Chapter 5. Strange genomes, strange genetics, Chapter 6. The Age of Aquarius, Chapter 7. All that junk, Chapter 8. The expanding repertoire of RNA, Chapter 9. Glimpses of a modern RNA world, Chapter 10. Genome sequences and transposable elements, Chapter 11. The human genome, Chapter 12. Small RNAs with mighty functions, Chapter 13. Large RNAs with many functions, Chapter 14. The epigenome, Chapter 15. The programming of development, Chapter 16. RNA and repeats rule, Chapter 17. Plasticity, Chapter 18. Beyond the jungle of dogmas, References