Sex and Death in Protozoa - the history of an obsession [Sir John Burnett's copy] by Bell, Graham - 1988

Reproduction. mortality. genetics.: Cambridge University Press, 1988. Octavo, pp xiv, 199, a very good clean hardback copy in a dustwrapper showing only slight signs of use. [ Is ageing inevitable, or can senescence and death be evaded? Large animals and plants always age if they live long enough; even individual cells from their bodies cannot continue living and dividing indefinitely. Whether or not single-celled organisms also age and die, and what relation sex bore to the process of senescence, was the subject of vigorous debate and experimentation early in the last century. In this book, Dr Bell disinters and reanalyzes these forgotten experiments, and argues that protozoan lineages do indeed senesce, as the result of an accumulated load of mutations that can be shed only through sexual reproduction. This unexpected connection between sex and death is the central theme of a book that will interest all students of evolutionary biology, sexuality and senescence.]. [From the library of Sir John Burnett, with his signature on the front endpaper. A distinguished academic career and a lifelong interest in fungi, botany and nature conservation made him the ideal champion for biological recording in the UK. He held that effective nature conservation could be achieved only if good quality information about species and their habitats was accessible to all who needed it - a belief that made him perfectly suited to run the National Biodiversity Network, founded in 2000. He was convinced that academics with high administrative posts must continue with some personal research, in his case on the myxomycetes.]. First Edition. Cloth. Very Good/Very Slightly Worn.