Evolution in a Toxic World How Life Responds to Chemical Threats
With BPA in baby bottles, mercury in fish, and lead in computer monitors, the world has become a toxic place. But as Emily Monosson demonstrates in her groundbreaking new book, it has always been toxic. When oxygen first developed in Earth's atmosphere, i
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Evolution in a Toxic World how life responds to chemical threats
Emily Monosson
Washington | Covelo | London
Copyright © 2012 Emily Monosson All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher: Island Press, 1718 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 300 Washington, DC 20009. ISLAND PRESS is a trademark of the Center for Resource Economics.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Monosson, Emily. Evolution in a toxic world : how life responds to chemical threats / Emily Monosson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-59726-976-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-59726-976-X (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-59726-977-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) — ISBN 1-59726-977-8 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Environmental toxicology. 2. Adaptation (Physiology) 3. Ecophysiology. 4. Evolution (Biology) I. Title. RA1226.M66 2012 613′.1—dc23 2012003365
Printed on recycled, acid-free paper
Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
contents
Preface
ix
Acknowledgments
xi
Chapter 1
1
An Introduction
PART 1 ELEMENT
13
Chapter 2
Shining a Light on Earth’s Oldest Toxic Threat?
15
Chapter 3
When Life Gives You Oxygen, Respire
33
Chapter 4
Metal Planet
49
PART 2 PLANT AND ANIMAL
65
Chapter 5
It Takes Two (or More) for the Cancer Tango
67
Chapter 6
Chemical Warfare
83
Chapter 7
Sensing Chemicals
101
Chapter 8
Coordinated Defense
117
PART 3 HUMAN
131
Chapter 9
Toxic Evolution
133
Chapter 10 Toxic Overload?
149
Appendix: Five Recent Additions to the Chemical Handbook of Life
161
Notes
173
Selected Bibliography
211
Index
217
preface
Before I embarked on this journey through time, the word “evolution” called to mind images of finch beaks, squid eyes, and that pervasive lineup of an ape morphing into a human slumped over a computer—an example of a relatively “modern” evolutionary change. I never considered the very long (billions of years) evolutionary history of the systems that I had studied for decades. The proteins and enzymes evolved partially in response to the plethora of chemicals that threaten to upset the balance of life. But as an environmental toxicologist focused on the effects of chemicals today, I never saw it that way. From my contemporary pedestal, I could only see from the top down. I focused solely on the adverse effects of chemical contaminants and, more recently, on the ways chemicals used in industrial and consumer products affect both humans and wildlife. I rarely if ever stopped to ask how we got here, even though for years I have been teaching environmental studies students that they must understand history, not just to understand the present, but to change the future. Now I am taking my own advice. We are faced with a barrage of chemicals both familiar and unfamiliar to life. Truly understanding the effects of these chemicals, and changing the way we create, use, and evaluate them, requi
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