Children are not the only ones who wonder where babies come from. Scientists, too, are still trying to answer this question on its most basic levels. Human bodies, after all, are not built like bridges by external engineers—they build themselves. University of Edinburgh biologist Davies describes what we know and what we do not know about how tiny individual components come together to create the complexity of life, laying out the major insights that have been gleaned over the past decade. “The story that is being unearthed ... is an astonishing one,” Davies writes. “It is the story of something every one of us has done, and it is therefore a story that belongs to us all.
This article was originally published with the title "Life Unfolding" in Scientific American 310, 4, 86 (April 2014)
doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0414-86d
ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)
Clara Moskowitzis Scientific American's senior editor covering space and physics. She has a bachelor's degree in astronomy and physics from Wesleyan University and a graduate degree in science journalism from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Follow Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz Credit: Nick Higgins
