The Gene
The story of the gene: our past, our future, ourselves.
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4.0 • 6 Ratings
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- $18.99
Publisher Description
An epic, dazzling history of the idea that defines us.
From Gregor Mendel’s pea plants to the discovery of DNA and the CRISPR revolution in gene-editing, The Gene tells the story of how we came to understand heredity – to decipher the master-code that makes and defines humans – land how that knowledge now allows us to rewrite life itself. Siddhartha Mukherjee combines scientific insight with personal history, weaving in his own family’s struggles with mental illness to explore the moral frontiers of genetics.
This is science writing of the highest order, humane, lyrical, and profound, showing how the study of genes illuminates both our biological destiny and our deepest hopes.
‘Siddhartha Mukherjee is the perfect guide to genome science’ Bill Gates
‘Thrilling and comprehensive’ Sunday Times
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In skillful prose, Mukherjee, an oncologist and the Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies, relates the grand tale of how scientists have come to understand the role genes play in human development, behavior, and physiology. He deftly relates the basic scientific facts about the way genes are believed to function, while making clear the aspects of genetics that remain unknown. Mukherjee offers insight into both the scientific process and the sociology of science, exploring the crucial experiments that have shed light on the biochemical complexities inherent in the genome. He also examines many of the philosophical and moral quandaries that have long swirled around the study of genetics, addressing such important topics as eugenics, stem cell research, and what it means to use the composition of a person's genotype to make predictions about his or her health or behavior. Looking to the future, Mukherjee addresses prospects for medical advances in the treatment of diseases and in selecting or actively crafting the genetic composition of offspring, regularly pointing out the pressing ethical considerations. Throughout, he repeatedly poses the question, "What is natural'?" declining to offer a single answer, in recognition that both context and change are essential. By relating familial information, Mukherjee grounds the abstract in the personal to add power and poignancy to his excellent narrative.
Customer Reviews
Even better than the first time
The author is an Indian-American oncologist and cancer researcher based at Columbia University, NY. Stanford graduate. Rhodes scholar at Oxford. Postgraduate degree from Harvard. Dr M is a also a superb writer for professional and lay audiences, whose work graces the pages of journals as varied as Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, The New York Times, The New Republic and Cell, to name but a few. His first book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, won the 2011 Pulitzer for non-fiction. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Here, the author shows similar aplomb exploring and explaining the history and development of genetics from ancient times to the present day, and looking to the future. He personalises the journey with stories of inherited illness in his own family. I thought the writing was even better than Maladies. Once again, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
The author’s latest offering, The Song of The Cell, is due out in early November 2022 (a fortnight away as I write this)
Brilliant
Fabulous account of the gene and it's place in science. Highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest