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    3the Birth of The Mind by Gary Marcus

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    Alper Mert
    The document summarizes part of a book by Gary Marcus called "The Birth of the Mind". It discusses Marcus explaining the protein template theory and DNA discovery. It then covers Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA and how this helped explain heredity and cell processes. Marcus also examines how genes synthesize proteins and the role of regulation in cell behavior through the Autonomous Agent Theory. He uses examples like bacteria responding to lactose to illustrate this concept.

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    3the Birth of The Mind by Gary Marcus

    Uploaded by

    Alper Mert
    87 views2 pages
    The document summarizes part of a book by Gary Marcus called "The Birth of the Mind". It discusses Marcus explaining the protein template theory and DNA discovery. It then covers Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA and how this helped explain heredity and cell processes. Marcus also examines how genes synthesize proteins and the role of regulation in cell behavior through the Autonomous Agent Theory. He uses examples like bacteria responding to lactose to illustrate this concept.

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    3The Birth of the Mind by Gary Marcus

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    The document summarizes part of a book by Gary Marcus called "The Birth of the Mind". It discusses Marcus explaining the protein template theory and DNA discovery. It then covers Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA and how this helped explain heredity and cell processes. Marcus also examines how genes synthesize proteins and the role of regulation in cell behavior through the Autonomous Agent Theory. He uses examples like bacteria responding to lactose to illustrate this concept.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    87 views2 pages

    3the Birth of The Mind by Gary Marcus

    Uploaded by

    Alper Mert
    The document summarizes part of a book by Gary Marcus called "The Birth of the Mind". It discusses Marcus explaining the protein template theory and DNA discovery. It then covers Watson and Crick's discovery of the double helix structure of DNA and how this helped explain heredity and cell processes. Marcus also examines how genes synthesize proteins and the role of regulation in cell behavior through the Autonomous Agent Theory. He uses examples like bacteria responding to lactose to illustrate this concept.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    10.10.

    2018
    The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Create the Complexities
    of Human Thought

    Gary Marcus

    Alper Mert
    0060708

    Sophomore

    In his book “The Birth of the Mind: How a Tiny Number of Genes Create the Complexities of
    Human Thought”, Gary Marcus starts by explaining the protein template theory (PTT), the theory
    that genes are involved in every protein synthesis in a cell body, and the discovery of DNA. Then
    he continues to examine the subsequent studies about what DNA is and how it works. We see
    that the first studies done on DNA was unsuccessful in revealing the nature or structure of the
    substance. However, he shows that with J. Watson and F. Crick’s discovery of double helix and
    the chemical properties of nucleotides, we began to understand the processes which occur within
    a cell. Double helix structure allows DNA to untangle and, create RNA to govern the cell, or
    copy itself to create new cells; which aligns with Mendel’s findings on heredity. Then he
    proceeds to explain how the genes, the groups of at least 3 nucleodites, synthesize proteins. He
    continues to examine the effect of “faulty genes” in people and emphasizes on the fact that PTT
    does not account for DNA’s defense mechanisms towards those ’faulty genes’, or knowledge of
    when the templates within the DNA should be used. That’s because PTT theory is one half of a
    picture; the other part is the regulation or as he names it Autonomous Agent Theory (AAT),
    which accounts for change in cell behavior in different circumstances. In order to explain the
    PTT and, AAT he uses a simple if-then model; if there is no glucose in the environment (if-
    regulatory) but there is lactose, E. choli bacteria starts secreting galactosidase, an enzyme that
    breaks down lactose to glucose (then-protein template). As he talks about more complex
    organisms, like humans, he points out that the if-then process is not enough. The cells use their
    locations and their antecessors as a basis on what function or form they will take.

    The point of this article seems to be piqueing the readers interest towards cellbiology and DNA.
    However, the biologic descriptions seem to be superfacial and unbranched; the protein synthesis
    procedure is described without RNA. He doesn’t give more than a sentence about the function of
    RNA, furthermore that sentence is the only mention of the RNA in the text. Despite the poor
    cellular explanations, the history of the subject is given in a fashion that would captivate the
    reader as it does not get into too much detail. The examples used are well designed as they are
    complex enough to be relevant to the subject, but not complex enough to confuse the reader; the
    example of roundworm is used to explain both lineages, and the anchor cells by giving only the
    necessary information. The history, given chronologically and simply, is enough to see the
    collaboration and the cumulative nature of science. The if-then explanation and computer
    programming methaphor used to emulate it, helps the reader understand the connection between
    the regulation and the production tasks of DNA. The only two problems with the text are; the
    oversimplification of cellular processes, and that the text does not explain “How a Tiny Number
    of Genes Create the Complexities of Human Thought” as the title suggests. However, the fact
    that this text was taken from the first chapters of a book that approached the nature vs. nurture
    debate from a point of view that included the genomics, makes up for these problems.

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