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The human genome, the complete set of genes in 23 pairs of chromosomes, is nothing less than an autobiography of our species. I had thought of DNA as making proteins for cells, but I had never thought that it would be possible for our decisions to be determined by the genetic code that we are born with. Taking on another controversy, Ridley cites studies indicating sexual orientation is 50% due to genes.
A jargon-free excursion of intellectual discovery that will carry any reader along its tour of exciting, often delightful, stories structured to help us understand in everyday terms, and to remember, the revelations about genetic evolution that have come to light in the last few decades. So, in the interest of honesty, I must disclose that my inflated expectations were probably the biggest contributor to my lackluster reaction. The book is accessible but does get progressively more difficult and there is quite a bit of genetic code mentioned, but most people will not have a problem understanding it since the book does educate so well.
Specialized developmental genes turn on and off at each step often repeating the processes of our evolutionary ancestors. The relationship between genetic language and health is pretty compelling, and Ridley does a superb job of making it vividly clear. What about the fact that male sperm has an agenda and that chemicals within enter the female's brain, lowering her sex drive and adjusting the timings of her menstrual cycle in an attempt to stop her mating with others? This chapter relates to how understanding the genetic code matches models for embryonic development among vertebrates.
Well written, with some anecdotal smatterings which always lighten the mood in popular science books as long as they are not overdone. There were many occasions in this book when I stopped to read a paragraph out to my wife who was also fascinated. If you are interested in science, biology or evolution just a little bit then read this, you won't be disappointed. My only reservation about it, is the fact that it is already quite out of date due to the rate of increasing knowledge about genetics. This book was fascinating as it took every human genome and added real life in clear, lucid examples.The human genome—the complete set of human genes—comes packaged in twenty-three separate pairs of chromosomes. If your gene says “CAG” no more than 10 or 15 times—that is, if you have 10–15 ‘repeats’—you have a healthy version. The book is, in its way, a selective text on human genetics that by and large avoids sounding like a classroom lecture. Also, I learned how genes can be expressed due to the release of cortisol and other hormones during periods of stress. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.
From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. Head-tail and back-front differentiation genes are very similar throughout the animal kingdom, implying a common ancestry. I'll admit that the real reason I picked this one up was to read Ridley's political views, and in that, he does not fail. Ridley delves into other contentious political topics as well, such as media hysteria over Mad Cow Disease, eugenics, genetic screening, sex, evolutionary psychology, and luddism. Each chapter then takes one chromosome and selects from each a particular gene to describe with a much broader emphasis upon what this actually means for human individuality, culture and society.
By no means is this a bad book, and I’m sure it could be read by many with great interest; yet I expected a detailed exploration of the field of genetics, and instead got a series of stories about particular discoveries, which didn’t end up adding into a thorough picture of the field. The chapter also discusses how, through reverse transcriptase, retroviruses like HIV copy themselves to the human genome. He confuses the whole-genome shotgun technique, which has been used successfully to completely and accurately decipher almost half of the genomes sequenced so far, with the Expressed Sequence Tag (EST) technique for gene discovery. He also stakes out his own point of view on some controversial issues which encourages you to think through how you feel. Gene mutations can lead to disease, and sometimes there is a balancing effect between resistance to one disease at the expense of being susceptible to another disease.
His understanding of the material is neither superficial nor deep; the reader is given some discussions of the logic of the theories, but as quick sketches rather than detailed diagrams.
Particularly attractive is Ridley’s style – effortlessly informative, yet light enough to almost always be enjoyable. If it says “CAG” 39 times or more, “you will in mid-life slowly start to lose your balance, grow steadily more incapable of looking after yourself and die prematurely. On the other hand increased productivity and nutrition can save many lives particularly in developing countries. Just slightly out-of-date (published in 1999) since genetics is such a fast-progressing area of knowledge but overall not "dated" or off-base.
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