The Black Box of Biology

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In this masterful account, a historian of science surveys the molecular biology revolution and its lasting impact. Since the 1930s, a molecular vision has been transforming biology. The author provides an incisive history of this transformation, from early attempts to explain organisms through their chemical components to the birth and consolidation of genetics, and the latest technologies enabled by this new science of life. Revisiting previous analyses, the author offers fresh insights from the past two decades. The narrative reveals that the remarkable transformation of biology resulted not from a simple accumulation of new results, but from the molecularization of a significant portion of the field. The greatest biological achievements of recent decades remain rooted in the molecular paradigm. Rather than being displaced by other techniques, molecular biology has fused with genetics, physics, structural chemistry, and computational biology, leading to decisive changes. These include the discovery of regulatory RNAs, large-scale scientific initiatives like human genome sequencing, and the rise of synthetic biology, systems biology, and epigenetics. Original, persuasive, and expansive in scope, this work sets a new standard for understanding the ongoing molecular revolution.