In order to see how the embryo developed, Cleopatra ordered the bellies of pregnant slaves to be cut open. Today we know much more about the mechanisms that cause a single cell to turn first into an embryo, then into a child, and then into an adult, much more than in the days of the cruel Egyptian woman, but many questions still remain unanswered. One of the main methods to study the ways of formation of the human body is to monitor the failures that arise in this process, or, as scientists say, mutations. It is these “problems” that lead to the appearance of Siamese twins, two-headed lambs and other mutants that the British biologist Armand Marie Leroy talks about in his fascinating and sometimes shocking book. Using the stories of famous “freaks” as a starting point for his reasoning, the author fails the reader to understanding the complex laws that allow the human body to maintain relative stability over many generations, while remaining amazingly diverse.

UDC 575-2BBK 28.704ISBN 978-5-271-24665-4 (Astrel Publishing House LLC) )© Armand Marie Leroi, 2003© Dmitry Zimin Dynasty Foundation, Russian edition, 2009© E. Godina, translation into Russian, 2009© A. Bondarenko, design, 2009

Dynasty Non-profit Programs Foundation "Founded in 2002 by Dmitry Borisovich Zimin, honorary president of VimpelCom. The Foundation's priority areas of activity are the development of fundamental science and education in Russia, the popularization of science and education. As part of the program to popularize science, the Foundation has launched several projects. Among them is the website elementy.ru, which has become one of the leading thematic resources on the Russian-language Internet, as well as the Dynasty Library project - a publication of modern popular science books carefully selected by scientific experts. The book you are holding in your hands was published in within the framework of this project, you will find more detailed information about the Dynasty Foundation at: WWW.DYNASTYFDN.RU