The Genome: An Outsider's View

Carl Zimmer

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0020156

Abstract

The Buddha once told a story about a king who ordered a group of blind men to be presented with an elephant. Each man touched a different part of the animal. The king then asked them what an elephant is like.

Highlights

The Buddha once told a story about a king who ordered a group of blind men to be presented with an elephant
In the 1990s paleontologists began unearthing a series of spectacular fossils documenting that transition, including whales with full-blown legs
As I learned more about the history of modern biology, I realized that this rift did not begin in the 1990s. It was already present in the 1950s, as molecular biologists began championing their new science over more traditional ways of understanding life

Summary

Introduction

The Buddha once told a story about a king who ordered a group of blind men to be presented with an elephant. The computational methods for calculating them were relatively new, and scientists could only use them to compare a few gene sequences of whales and other mammals. The bones and teeth they did find suggested that the closest relatives of whales were an extinct group of mammals called mesonychids. It was already present in the 1950s, as molecular biologists began championing their new science over more traditional ways of understanding life.

Results

Conclusion