The Most Important Molecule. From the Structure of DNA to Biomedical Science of the 21st Century

Of all the things that surround us, life seems the most inexplicable. We are accustomed to it being always around us and within ourselves, and we have lost the ability to be amazed. But go into the forest, look at the trees, grass, flowers, birds, and ants as if you saw them for the first time, and you will be overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness in the face of the great mystery of life. Is there something common in all of this, something that unites all living beings, be it a human or a microbe invisible to the eye? What determines the continuity of life, its rebirth time and again from generation to generation? These questions are as old as the world, but it was only in the second half of the 20th century that answers were first obtained, which turned out to be not too complicated and, most importantly, dazzlingly beautiful. This book tells how they were obtained and what they consist of. The central focus of molecular biology, which is intended to answer the eternal question: 'What is life?', is the DNA molecule. This is what the book is primarily about. The author pays great attention to those questions in which physics and mathematics play especially important roles. This distinguishes this book from many others dedicated to DNA.