DISCOVERY: WINDOWS ON THE LIFE SCIENCES -- TABLE OF CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- CHAPTER 1: ON DISCOVERY -- SERENDIPITY -- FOLLOWING A HUNCH: THE ROAD TO CISPLATIN -- SEEING CONNECTIONS: FROM LETHARGIC GUINEA PIGS TO LITHIUM -- SYSTEMATIC SEARCHES -- NATURAL PRODUCTS CHEMISTRY -- SYNTHETIC VERSUS COMBINATORIAL CHEMISTRY -- SEQUENClNG GENOMES -- THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT -- CHAPTER 2: THE ORIGIN OF LIFE: WHEN CHEMISTRY BECAME BIOLOGY -- SIDESTEPPING THE QUESTION OF HOW LIFE BEGAN -- DEBUNKING SPONTANEOUS GENERATION -- DISPROVING VITALISM -- LIFE FROM SPACE: PERHAPS SOME EVIDENCE -- SETTING THE SCENE -- WHEN MIGHT LIFE HAVE ORIGINATED? -- WHERE COULD LIFE HAVE ARISEN? -- PREBIOTIC SIMULATIONS -- THE MILLER EXPERIMENT -- OTHER PREBIOTlC SIMULATIONS -- AFTER THE BUILDING BLOCKS FORM: POLYMERIZATION -- PRELUDE TO AN RNA WORlD -- WHY RNA? -- EVOLUTION IN A TEST TUBE -- A PRE-RNA WORLD? -- BETWEEN THE RNA WORlD AND THE FIRST ORGANISM -- A FINAL WORD ON CONTROVERSY -- CHAPTER 3: GOING OUT ON A LIMB FOR THE TREE OF LIFE -- IN THE LEGACY OF GALILEO -- INSPIRATION FROM THE GENETIC CODE -- ENTER EVOLUTION -- THE EXPERIMENTS -- THE ARKIES' DEBUT, IN PRINT -- MAKING THE CASE -- DETAILS EMERGE -- ARKlES AFFECT BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION -- HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION -- DOMAINS ARRIVE-FOR SOME -- IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL -- A FINAL NOTE ON PERSPECTIVE -- CHAPTER 4: IN PURSUIT OF PRIONS -- EARLY CLUES: SCRAPIE, RIDA, AND CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE -- OF KURU AND CANNIBALS -- INTO THE LAB TO ISOLATE THE AGENT -- IATROGENIC CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE ARISES -- HUMAN GROWTH HORMONE FROM CADAVERS CAUSES A PRION DISEASE -- PRUSINER AND PRIONS -- THE BRITISH BEEF SCARE -- 1985 TO 1987: 420 NEW BSE CASES -- 1988: 3072 NEW BSE CASES -- 1989: 7627 NEW BSE CASES -- 1990: 14,371 NEW BSE CASES -- 1991 TO 1992: THE NUMBERS OF NEW BSE CASES PEAK AT 25,644 AND 36,924.

1993: THE NUMBER OF NEW BSE CASES BEGINS TO FALL (33,574) -- 1994 -- 1995 -- 1996 -- 1997 -- 1998 -- 1999 -- FATAL INSOMNIA -- VISUALIZING PRIONS -- THE YEAST CONNECTION -- WHAT'S NEXT? -- CHAPTER 5: THE TALE OF TELOMERES -- DISCOVERING STICKY ENDS -- THE HAYFLICK LIMIT -- THE END REPLICATION PROBLEM -- THE HAYFLICK LIMIT MEETS THE END REPLICATION PROBLEM -- CLUES FROM CILIATES -- PROBING HUMAN TELOMERES -- THE PUZZLE PIECES ASSEMBLE -- TRACKING TELOMERASE IN DIFFERENT CELL TYPES -- MANIPULATING TELOMERASE -- SHUTTING TELOMERASE OFF -- TURNING TELOMERASE ON -- THE FUTURE: TELOMERE MEDICINE? -- CHAPTER 6: STEM CELLS: THE SCIENCE OF SELF-RENEWAL -- FROM BONE MARROW TO BRAIN MARROW -- A CELL'S POTENTIAL GONE HAYWIRE: TERATOMAS -- STRAIN 129 LEADS TO IDENTIFYING STEM CELLS -- TRACING THE ORIGIN OF A TERATOMA -- A SURPRISE ANNOUNCEMENT CATALYZES CELL CULTURE -- KNOCKOUTS BEGIN WITH EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS -- ENTER EMBRYONIC GERM CELLS -- BEYOND THE MOUSE -- FINALLY-HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS -- ENTER ETHICS AND POLITICS -- ADULT STEM CELLS: BONE MARROW TO BRAIN, LIVER, MUSCLE, AND BEYOND -- BRAIN MARROW REVISITED -- MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS -- CHAPTER 7: THE ROOTS OF CLONING -- THE AMPHIBIAN YEARS -- THE MOUSE, TAKE 1 -- OF BOVINES AND OVINES-COWS AND SHEEP -- MEGAN AND MORAG PROVE THE PRINCIPLE OF CLONING-BUT ARE IGNORED -- SHEEP 6LL3: DOLLY -- HYPED REPORTING, CALLS FOR "NO CLONE ZONES," AND OTHER OVERREACTIONS -- AFTER DOLLY -- THE MOUSE, TAKE 2 -- CALVES, REVISITED -- CLONED OTHERS -- HUMAN CLONING: WHEN AND WHY? -- CLONING COMES FULL CIRCLE -- CHAPTER 8: HOMOCYSTEINE AND HEART HEALTH -- OF LDL, HDL, AND HOMOCYSTEINE -- CYCLES AND PATHWAYS -- CLUES FROM SICK CHILDREN -- A KEY CONNECTION -- A FLOOD OF STUDIES LINKS HIGHER HOMOCYSTEINE LEVEL TO CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE -- THE VITAMIN CONNECTION: FOCUS ON FOLATE -- ESTABLISHING CAUSALITY AND MECHANISM.

THE BIGGER PICTURE -- CHAPTER 9: ON TECHNOLOGY: GENE THERAPY AND GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS -- THE FIRST REPORTED GENE THERAPY DEATH -- WILL GENE THERAPY FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF TRANSPLANTS? -- A BUTTERFLY SYMBOLIZES TECHNOFEAR -- THE FUTURE -- INDEX.