Author Description

In this assessment of Darwinism, Christopher Wills explains how, during the course of their long histories, genes have acquired a "wisdom" that enables them to change more easily in some directions than in others. He opens up the recently discovered "molecular toolboxes" of evolution to reveal the workings of jumping genes, supergenes, and building-block genes - structures that have enormous implications for medicine and our understanding of how cells and organisms work, as well as revealing in great detail how the genes themselves have evolved. Conveying the excitement of scientists who are about to harness the processes of evolution to explore - and perhaps change - our genetic makeup, "The Wisdom of the Genes" traces the course of billions of years of life in order to show how the accumulated wisdom of this genetic machinery has shaped everything from mimicry in butterflies to our own remarkable immune systems.