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Genes in Conflict: The Biology of Selfish Genetic Elements 1st Edition

4.0 out of 5 stars 9 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-0674017139
ISBN-10: 0674017137
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 632 pages
  • Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press; 1st edition (January 15, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0674017137
  • ISBN-13: 978-0674017139
  • Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.8 x 1.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,764,772 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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By Dr. Lee D. Carlson HALL OF FAME on February 22, 2006
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
The concept of a "selfish gene" has made its way into the popular and semi-popular press, and because of this has provoked many discussions in ethical circles as well as in the area known as evolutionary psychology. Some of these discussions attempt to set the record straight on just what biologists mean when they talk about selfish genes. This book could be considered part of these discussions, and offers the reader a fascinating account of the science behind what the authors call selfish genetic elements. The book however is not written for the popular audience, but instead assumes a strong background in genetics. However the authors have included a terminology section in the back of the book to assist non-experts in genetics (such as this reviewer). The authors are very careful to make distinctions between what is known about selfish genes and what constitutes speculation. For readers who still need more discussion over and above what the book gives, there is an extensive list of references included. In addition, the authors include a very detailed summary of the book in the last chapter.

Every page of this book is filled with interesting insights, and many questions are answered as well as raised. Some of the questions that this reviewer found interesting include:

1. What are the natures of genomic exclusion systems wherein chromosomes are discarded from one parent and transmit only those from the other parent?

2. Why did paternal genome loss (PGL) evolve? Was it because of bacterial endosymbionts manipulating the chromosomes of their hosts, and if so, what evidence is there for this? How common is PGL?

3. What is hybridogenesis and in what species does it occur? Why did it evolve?

4. Androgenesis is the loss of the maternal genome.
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Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Burt and Trivers have produced an encylopedic compilation of examples of selfish genetic elements. There is a wealth of information available in this book, but you have to work hard to wade through the authors' ambiguous wording, contradictory phrasing, utterly confusing tables and figures, and almost complete lack of follow-through on any of their ideas. This book is not for the general public. I read it with a group of professors and graduate students who focus on evolution, and we had a hard time getting through it.

Despite the problems with the book, I recommend it to anyone with a serious interest in this subject area. It's a great reference and source of ideas. It also provides a solid overview of what research has already been done and what remains to be conducted. Furthermore, it has some amazing examples of organisms with truly bizarre natural histories; those parts of the book are fascinating to read.

Overall, I'd say if you really think you'd be interested in this topic, buy the book. But be prepared to work hard while reading it, and expect to be frustrated with it on a regular basis.
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Format: Hardcover
What a long strange trip it's been for Robert Trivers, who during the early 1970s was one of the most brilliant evolutionary theorists ever. Now, I'm happy to see he's back with a magisterial tome co-written with Austin Burt on "selfish genetic elements" that don't raise the Darwinian fitness of the organism as a whole, just of themselves, often at the expense of the overall life form.

As a crude analogy for what Trivers and Burt are describing, think of the Enron Corporation. Traditional economic theory, which bears many resemblances to traditional evolutionary theory, would conceive of that firm as an entity that competes against other firms for the good of its shareholders. Unfortunately, old fashioned economics did not prove an adequate guide to Enron's behavior because the firm was infested with "selfish managerial elements," executives who were looting the firm for their own selfish benefit.

Of course, developing a better understanding of Enron-like situations does not "refute" economics, just adds to its sophistication. Similarly, Trivers and Burt are adding to the explanatory power of Darwinism. Just as firms struggle to develop carrots such as stock options to to align individual managers' interests with the interests of the stockholders, and sticks to prevent embezzlement, organisms evolve responses to selfish genetic elements.

One quibble. I realize that this horse long ago left the barn, but Richard Dawkins' term "selfish gene" has caused a lot of misunderstanding among the public over the years. A better term might be "dynastic gene."

My Enron analogy can be misleading because what the "selfish genetic elements" are doing is not making themselves rich, per se, but contriving for copies of themselves to proliferate. The closest business analogy might be a firm damaged by nepotism, such as Wang Computer in the 1980s, where managers appoints their feckless relatives to important positions.
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Format: Hardcover
I was EXTREMELY lucky to have taken an one-on-one course with Dr. Trivers and I must say that he's the first to both praise and point out pitfalls in this book.

While being the most definitive guide to the subject out there, it can at times be very technical and hard to understand. Especially the chapters on genomic imprinting, exclusion (for me). However, I feel that this complexity only arises from the fact that the chapters are written out with as much detail as possible (as you will be able to see from the pages and pages of references in the bibliography).

Each chapter comes with its relevant illustrations, with the figures for mechanisms of selfish drive being the most important ones. Figures showing data can be complicated and at times, he even CALLED the authors while I was in class to answer a question I had.

The book is very well organized with the authors laying out the background followed by each chapter dedicated to a specialized genetic element. Work on B chromosomes, genetic imprinting, sex chromosome and autosomal drive are particularly well written with implications and mechanisms detailed out with the latest (uptil time of publication) information.

The only think lacking that I thought from the book was a better and more thorough summary chapter at the end, but then again I'm just being picky. With so much detail on the each topic within the chapter, the summary is pretty well written out.

Finally, I want to add that this is a book on evolution and the evolution and role of selfish genetic elements in shaping the evolution of host genomes (if it happens at all). It can get technical but the subject is never introduced in any form of education that I have experienced so the concepts were relatively new to me.
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