Summary Of The Magic Of Reality By Richard Dawkins
How does one, ordinary cell become an intelligent, conscious organism without any human or mechanical intervention? As astonishing as this feat may seem, magic plays no part – it is achieved by the biological process of differentiation. ‘The Magic of Reality’ by Richard Dawkins reinforces the idea that science offers the best explanations of the workings of the natural world. However, with numerous concepts yet for scientists to discover or understand, biology truly is an open ended book waiting for the students of today to write tomorrow’s chapters.
Watson and Crick’s discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 marked an era of extraordinary creativity in biology. In ‘The Double Helix’, James Watson reveals their struggles against anti-helical …show more content…
Perhaps somewhat remorselessly, Dawkins explores the fallibility of life when how genetically superior an organism is determines its success in surviving. His words, “we are built as gene machines”, reinforced to me the impressiveness of our biological makeup and inspired me to not only understand it, but also to explore concepts such as this further.
A-Level biology catalysed my interest in the subject. I was enthralled by a taster lecture at the University of Cambridge on the semi-independent life of mitochondria. The lecture explored mitochondria’s double-stranded DNA and its frequent mutations that increase exponentially with age. I was particularly intrigued by the mention of Lynn Margulis’ symbiogenesis theory. Upon further research, the idea that free-living bacteria were taken inside another cell over a billion years ago seemed plausible and yet fascinating.
A Forensic Science MOOC that I recently completed gave me the opportunity to apply my biological knowledge in a different context. Of predominant interest to me was DNA analysis via the investigation of Short Tandem Repeats for suspect identification. They are useful DNA markers due to their easy amplification by a polymerase chain reaction and exhibit low mutation rates, making STRs more stable and
Watson and Crick’s discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953 marked an era of extraordinary creativity in biology. In ‘The Double Helix’, James Watson reveals their struggles against anti-helical …show more content…
Perhaps somewhat remorselessly, Dawkins explores the fallibility of life when how genetically superior an organism is determines its success in surviving. His words, “we are built as gene machines”, reinforced to me the impressiveness of our biological makeup and inspired me to not only understand it, but also to explore concepts such as this further.
A-Level biology catalysed my interest in the subject. I was enthralled by a taster lecture at the University of Cambridge on the semi-independent life of mitochondria. The lecture explored mitochondria’s double-stranded DNA and its frequent mutations that increase exponentially with age. I was particularly intrigued by the mention of Lynn Margulis’ symbiogenesis theory. Upon further research, the idea that free-living bacteria were taken inside another cell over a billion years ago seemed plausible and yet fascinating.
A Forensic Science MOOC that I recently completed gave me the opportunity to apply my biological knowledge in a different context. Of predominant interest to me was DNA analysis via the investigation of Short Tandem Repeats for suspect identification. They are useful DNA markers due to their easy amplification by a polymerase chain reaction and exhibit low mutation rates, making STRs more stable and