Prominent American biologist Maxine Singer has died. She was involved in research into the genetic code.

She was one of the leading scientists in the study of the genetic code, and she also laid the foundation for ethics in DNA research. In 2002, Discover magazine ranked her among the 50 most important women in science.

“Brain scientists are still searching for answers to many fundamental questions. Which ones are the most important? If we were to ask Nobel laureates Francis Crick, Gerald Edelman, and mathematician Roger Penrose, they would answer without hesitation: What is consciousness? Crick, who defines it as “attention and short-term memory,” calls for intensive research into consciousness in his book “The Astonishing Hypothesis.” Crick argues that it is “our joys and worries, our memories and aspirations, our sense of identity and freedom.” The activities of a large number of neurons and their associated molecules are fundamental, so the key to understanding the sense of identity must lie in the search for visual perception. — Read an excerpt from Maxine Singer’s book.