In The Beginning Was The Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite

A book to inspire how to do science from the scratch and never let go of the perseverance to do what one loves to.

A sleeper, earth-shaking story. It is way more important than it might seem. This is the story of three scientists who made one of the most important scientific discoveries in the history of modern science. And it is possible they don't even realize it. Foundational to the Theory of Evolution is the concept of mutation - in simple terms, copying errors from generation to generation in all living things, plant and animal. Yet, this is a story of the discovery of information management. Huh? DNA carries information...although some would deny it. And, according to Dr Werner Gitt, the only known source of information is a mind. But, how is that information managed, as in c.elegans? How does a living thing get from the first fertilized cell to the full-grown living thing? Is it left to chance? Is it random? Or, is it directed? This is the background story for an amazing discovery that blows holes in the chance development of living things. You might want to watch this video for a synopsis of the discovery. [...]

Why do we grow old and die? Amazingly, after more than forty years of research, we still don't know the answers. This book charts the history of one branch of investigation into this thorny problem and does it with verve, style, and wit. In addition it is written with an admirable clarity that will enable non-specialists to grasp not only what was going on during the 30 years people have been studying c. elegans but also why it matters.The main omission of the book concerns the fact that unlike complex eukaryotes such as reptiles and mammals our small wormy friend does not undergo cell division. Therefore cell-division-related loss-of-information theories about senescence clearly cannot explain why c. elegans lasts less than a month even under ideal conditions. In principle the fact that this non-dividing cellular system actually does grow old and die should teach us something very important about the mechanisms of aging, but alas we are little closer to understanding why these tiny creatures age than we were when the whole enterprise started with Brenner's initial investigations. It would presumably be very illuminating to contrast the all-too-mortal worm with immortal cancer cell lines; somewhere in there are surely the clues we need to get a better understanding of what it means to age.But this book is a nice primer on the basic issues involved in the study of aging and as such is a welcome addition to the bookshelf.

This is a compelling tale of one of the most important and consequential ventures of the past 100 years. If you want to feel the gripping excitement of scientific research, read this book.