The Network of Life
A New View of Evolution
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- €23.99
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- €23.99
Publisher Description
Why evolution is like a network, not a family tree—and why it matters for understanding the health of all living things
In The Network of Life, David Mindell explains why the conventional narrative of evolution needs to evolve. Ever since Darwin, evolution has largely been thought to work like a family tree in which species are related through a series of branching events. But, today, a growing knowledge of the ways species share genetic materials in a process known as horizontal evolution has revealed that evolution is actually a network of shared genealogy in which species are more interconnected than previously thought. In this book, Mindell presents this new narrative of life’s evolution and its profound implications for all life on Earth.
The Network of Life describes the drivers of horizontal evolution—interbreeding and genetic recombination, the merger of species, horizontal gene transfer, and coevolution. The network view of evolution that emerges supports a new symbiotic theory of health, which holds that the future health of humans, other species, and our shared environments depends on evolution and adaptation across life’s network.
Difficult times lie ahead for many of Earth’s species as climates and habitats transform. At the same time, new and altered life-forms are arising and spreading in association with human activities. We are also learning to reshape and create life by mimicking the mechanisms of horizontal evolution, and we are coevolving with technology as we enhance our bodies, brains, and life spans. The Network of Life shows why and how increasing our knowledge of horizontal evolution can provide critical lessons as we navigate our looming challenges.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"The current, conventional narrative for evolution... is outdated," according to this eye-opening analysis. Mindell (The Evolving World), a researcher at UC Berkeley's Museum of Vertebrate Zoology, contrasts "vertical evolution," or the traditional Darwinian account in which species differentiate and branch off from each other, with "horizontal evolution," which emphasizes how species sometimes "coevolve" in tandem with other organisms, transfer genes through means other than reproduction, or merge by producing distinct hybrids. Highlighting surprising examples of each, Mindell explains that certain kinds of bacteria can affect the DNA of their hosts and notes that some insects and slime molds "have picked up bacterial genes allowing them to synthesize vitamins and sequester iron." Species mergers have played a pivotal role in evolution, Mindell contends, describing how the joining of two kinds of bacteria 1.8 billion years ago gave rise to mitochondria, whose ability to metabolize oxygen enabled the emergence of all animals, plants, and fungi. Mindell argues that these findings raise questions about where one organism ends and another begins, discussing how humans rely on microbes in the gut that "produce vital nutrients, regulate the immune system," and perform other essential tasks. The heady ideas will change how readers understand some of biology's most fundamental concepts. This mesmerizes.
