Klappentext Unavailable in the U.S. for many years, Horace Judson's remarkable lay history of molecular biology is now published in a new, expanded edition. The author has added new material on some of the principal figures involved, particularly Rosalind Franklin. Also included are a new Forward and an Afterword which sketches the further development of molecular biology into the era of recombinant DNA. No one active in current molecular genetics can fail to be informed and entertained by this extraordinary account of how it all began. Also highly recommended for students and interested lay people.

Inhalt
Part I DNA: "He was a very remarkable fellow. Even more odd then, than later"; "DNA, you know, is Midas' gold. Everyone who touches it goes mad"; "Then they ask you, 'What is the significance of DNA for mankind, Dr Watson?'"; on T.H. Morgan's deviation and the secret of life. Part II RNA: "The number of the beast"; "My mind was, that a dogma was an idea for which there was no reasonable evidence! You see?"; "The gene was something in the minds of people as inaccessible as the material of the galaxies"; "He wasn't a member of the club". Part III Protein: "As always, I was driven on by wild expectations"; "I have discovered the second secret of life"; "Always the same impasse".