Can Microbial Communities Regenerate?: Uniting Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
by S. Andrew Inkpen and W. Ford Doolittle
University of Chicago Press, 2022 Cloth: 978-0-226-82063-7 | Paper: 978-0-226-82034-7 | eISBN: 978-0-226-82035-4 Library of Congress Classification QH499.I55 2022 Dewey Decimal Classification 571.889
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK By investigating a simple question, a philosopher of science and a molecular biologist offer an accessible understanding of microbial communities and a motivating theory for future research in community ecology.
Microorganisms, such as bacteria, are important determinants of health at the individual, ecosystem, and global levels. And yet many aspects of modern life, from the overuse of antibiotics to chemical spills and climate change, can have devastating, lasting impacts on the communities formed by microorganisms. Drawing on the latest scientific research and real-life examples such as attempts to reengineer these communities through microbial transplantation, the construction of synthetic communities of microorganisms, and the use of probiotics, this book explores how and why communities of microorganisms respond to disturbance, and what might lead to failure. It also unpacks related and interwoven philosophical questions: What is an organism? Can a community evolve by natural selection? How can we make sense of function and purpose in the natural world? How should we think about regeneration as a phenomenon that occurs at multiple biological scales? Provocative and nuanced, this primer offers an accessible conceptual and theoretical understanding of regeneration and evolution at the community level that will be essential across disciplines including philosophy of biology, conservation biology, microbiomics, medicine, evolutionary biology, and ecology.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY S. Andrew Inkpen is assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. He is also a project leader for the McDonnell Initiative at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, where he focuses on facilitating collaborations between humanities researchers and life scientists. W. Ford Doolittle is professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he has taught for fifty years. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
REVIEWS
“The majority of the literature on microbial communities is descriptive, rather than conceptual or theoretical. This book is quite unique, and valuable, in providing a general cross-disciplinary approach to one aspect of microbial community ecology, potentially encouraging more rational, thoughtful, and critical research on this very important topic.”
— JI Prosser OBE FRS FRSE FRSB FAAM, University of Aberdeen
“This question is not just academic, but informs critical debates regarding medical interventions, evolution, and conservation. A must-read for evolutionary biologists, historians and philosophers of science, and a wider audience interested in the microbiome.”
— Jane Maienschein, Arizona State University and the Marine Biological Laboratory
“Going beyond definition wrangling, Inkpen and Doolittle synthesize a wide range of topics to put forward a compelling conclusion. Their book balances technicality and clarity in a way that is exceedingly hard to obtain.”
— Derek Skillings, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
"Inkpen and Doolittle focus on microbiological regeneration—how multiple microbiological entities come together, interact, and regenerate after a disruption. The book lays out the definitions, concepts, and theoretical frameworks for microbial regeneration using both ecology and evolution to arrive at the current scientific understanding of this complex concept. . . . Students in these scientific disciplines would benefit from the cross-disciplinary approach."
— Library Journal
"To address the issue of regeneration broadly and its framing in contemporary research... Inkpen and Doolittle make a compelling case for a familiar proposal that builds on the hard core of evolutionary theory. Indeed, the book leverages both empirical examples and philosophical analyses to complete this task, all while having the ambitious goal of informing a diverse target audience of laypeople, scientists, and policymakers."
— Metascience
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Regeneration
2 Ecology
3 Evolution
4 Interactors
5 Engineering
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Can Microbial Communities Regenerate?: Uniting Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
by S. Andrew Inkpen and W. Ford Doolittle
University of Chicago Press, 2022 Cloth: 978-0-226-82063-7 Paper: 978-0-226-82034-7 eISBN: 978-0-226-82035-4
By investigating a simple question, a philosopher of science and a molecular biologist offer an accessible understanding of microbial communities and a motivating theory for future research in community ecology.
Microorganisms, such as bacteria, are important determinants of health at the individual, ecosystem, and global levels. And yet many aspects of modern life, from the overuse of antibiotics to chemical spills and climate change, can have devastating, lasting impacts on the communities formed by microorganisms. Drawing on the latest scientific research and real-life examples such as attempts to reengineer these communities through microbial transplantation, the construction of synthetic communities of microorganisms, and the use of probiotics, this book explores how and why communities of microorganisms respond to disturbance, and what might lead to failure. It also unpacks related and interwoven philosophical questions: What is an organism? Can a community evolve by natural selection? How can we make sense of function and purpose in the natural world? How should we think about regeneration as a phenomenon that occurs at multiple biological scales? Provocative and nuanced, this primer offers an accessible conceptual and theoretical understanding of regeneration and evolution at the community level that will be essential across disciplines including philosophy of biology, conservation biology, microbiomics, medicine, evolutionary biology, and ecology.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY S. Andrew Inkpen is assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada. He is also a project leader for the McDonnell Initiative at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, where he focuses on facilitating collaborations between humanities researchers and life scientists. W. Ford Doolittle is professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, where he has taught for fifty years. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences.
REVIEWS
“The majority of the literature on microbial communities is descriptive, rather than conceptual or theoretical. This book is quite unique, and valuable, in providing a general cross-disciplinary approach to one aspect of microbial community ecology, potentially encouraging more rational, thoughtful, and critical research on this very important topic.”
— JI Prosser OBE FRS FRSE FRSB FAAM, University of Aberdeen
“This question is not just academic, but informs critical debates regarding medical interventions, evolution, and conservation. A must-read for evolutionary biologists, historians and philosophers of science, and a wider audience interested in the microbiome.”
— Jane Maienschein, Arizona State University and the Marine Biological Laboratory
“Going beyond definition wrangling, Inkpen and Doolittle synthesize a wide range of topics to put forward a compelling conclusion. Their book balances technicality and clarity in a way that is exceedingly hard to obtain.”
— Derek Skillings, University of North Carolina, Greensboro
"Inkpen and Doolittle focus on microbiological regeneration—how multiple microbiological entities come together, interact, and regenerate after a disruption. The book lays out the definitions, concepts, and theoretical frameworks for microbial regeneration using both ecology and evolution to arrive at the current scientific understanding of this complex concept. . . . Students in these scientific disciplines would benefit from the cross-disciplinary approach."
— Library Journal
"To address the issue of regeneration broadly and its framing in contemporary research... Inkpen and Doolittle make a compelling case for a familiar proposal that builds on the hard core of evolutionary theory. Indeed, the book leverages both empirical examples and philosophical analyses to complete this task, all while having the ambitious goal of informing a diverse target audience of laypeople, scientists, and policymakers."
— Metascience
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Regeneration
2 Ecology
3 Evolution
4 Interactors
5 Engineering
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Further Reading
Notes
Bibliography
Index
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE