![]() ![]() We learn how E coli microbes talk to each other, how studies of their evolution represent the most powerful evidence in support of natural selection, and how they might just explain life on other planets. Most of us might only know E coli for its lethal strain that causes food poisoning, but Zimmer uses E coli as a prism to understand what life is, what it was, and what it will become. Not only had Lederberg proved that bacteria have sex, he had also proved they have genes.Since then, a bacterium that was once nothing more than a humble resident of the human gut has become our best guide to what it means to be alive. The only possible explanation for their survival was that they were a product of sex. But slowly, a few colonies of survivors began to spread accross the dishes. His experiments used defective E coli strains lacking the essential molecules to reproduce by cloning which should, by rights, perish in the petri dish. He chose to observe the breeding habits of a certain bacterium called Escherichia coli, better known as E coli. At the age of seven, he had declared that he hoped to become 'like Einstein' and to 'discover a few things in science.'The 'few things' Lederberg discovered would revolutionise modern science and earn him a Nobel Prize. ![]() Lederberg was motivated not by a displaced libido, but by scientific ambition. Appalachian enrolls nearly 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.In 1946, a twenty-year-old medical school student called Joshua Lederberg decided to find out whether microbes make love. ![]() Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. About Appalachian State UniversityĪs the premier public undergraduate institution in the Southeast, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. He is a lecturer at Yale University, where he teaches science writing. He has enthralled audiences with insightful talks on topics ranging from the cutting edge of medicine, to the history of the scientific revolution, to the wonderful creepiness of parasites.Īlong with the National Academies of Science prize, he has won fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and the Alfred P. Zimmer has lectured at many of the country’s leading universities, medical schools, and museums, and is a frequent speaker at scientific conferences. A Best Book of the YearSeed Magazine Granta Magazine The Plain-DealerIn this fascinating and. Zimmer is also the author of a groundbreaking textbook about evolution titled “The Tangled Bank.” Microcosm E Coli & the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer available in Trade Paperback on, also read synopsis and reviews. coli and the New Science of Life” was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. He has written 10 widely praised science books, including “Evolution: The Triumph of an Idea,” “Soul Made Flesh,” which was named one of the top 100 books of the year by The New York Times Book Review, “At the Water’s Edge” and “Parasite Rex.” His 2008 book, “Microcosm: E. The New York Times Book Review said Zimmer was, “as fine a science essayist as we have.” He won the National Academies Communication Award and is a two-time winner of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Journalism Award. In addition to writing the weekly Matter column in The New York Times, he writes for National Geographic and other publications. Zimmer is an expert on topics ranging from biology and evolution to parasites and viruses. Zimmer’s campus visit is sponsored by the University Forum Committee and University College, with additional support from the Joan Askew Vail Endowment and the Office of Multicultural Student Development. His lecture, titled “A Journey to the Center of Your Brain,” is free and open to the public. in the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts at Appalachian State University. BOONE-The New York Times science journalist Carl Zimmer will speak Sept. ![]()
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