| View Larger Image | Genome | Paperbackby Matt Ridley (Author)
| List Price: | $14.00 | |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Fourth Estate Ltd | | Page Count: | 352 Pages | | Publication Date: | October 03, 2000 | | Sales Rank: | 311,587th |
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CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 6 reviews)
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Focusing in on one gene per chromosome by E. A. Lovitt (Gladwin, MI USA)  5 Stars
April 06, 2009
British science writer, Matt Ridley tells the story of the human genome by concentrating on one gene per chromosome and taking his readers from the beginning of life on Earth to the possible future of humanity. If you are interested in the advances in genetics, "Genome" is a quick, interesting overview, although it was published in 1999 and is already slightly out-of-date.
For instance, the 'final' human genome sequence wasn't published until 2003 (the 'draft' was published in 2001.) However, genetics is such a fast-moving field, that any book on this subject is automatically out-of-date even as it is going to press. So read "Genome" and enjoy!
Ridley does not duck the ethical questions concerning the manipulation of the genome. His final four chapters on chromosomes 19, 20, 21, and 22 are labeled respectively: "Prevention;" "Politics;" "Eugenics;" and "Free Will." It is interesting to note that the inventor of DNA fingerprinting, Alec Jeffreys, believes every citizen's genetic information should be stored on a national data base, but for identification purposes only. It should not be used to store information about susceptibility to disease for fear that governments and insurance companies will use such data to discriminate against those of us who might be greater health risks because of our genetic profiles.
One of Ridley's recurrent themes (the capital letters are his) is that "GENES ARE NOT THERE TO CAUSE DISEASES." So if you do happen to have the gene for 'bad' blood lipids (see chromosome 19), you are not automatically doomed. In fact, the author argues very forcefully that this is the genetic information that you (not your insurance company) should know, so that you can take preventative life-style measures.
On the other hand, you may not want to know if you have the mutated version of the gene that causes Huntington's chorea (see the chapter on chromosome 4, entitled "Fate.")
One of the most heartening stories in "Genome" concerns the virtual elimination of cystic fibrosis in the American Jewish population: "The Committee for the Prevention of Jewish Genetic Disease organizes the test of schoolchildren's blood. When matchmakers are later considering a marriage between two young people, they can call a hotline and quote the two anonymous numbers" that the boy and girl received when they were tested. If both are carriers of the same mutation for cystic fibrosis (or Tay-Sachs disease), they are advised not to marry.
This policy seems to be working--why not expand this type of genetic testing to the whole population?
One small mistake should be noted. In the chapter on "Prevention" the author states that, "After Fleming found penicillin we were guilty of neglect if we failed to take a dying tubercular patient to the doctor." Actually penicillin is active only against Gram-positive bacteria and not against Gram-negative species, including 'Mycobacterium tuberculosis' (the cause of tuberculosis).
Other than the above, "Genome" is a very meaty introduction to a chordate in "a phylum that survived the Cambrian era 500 million years ago by the skin of its teeth in competition with the brilliantly successful arthropods." We are lucky to be here, and lucky to have our genetic story told by such an interesting writer.
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Excellent Book by J. Rodriguez 5 Stars
January 06, 2008
I read this book with only a moderate amount of background in Genetics. My interest is more like a hobbie so when I first started to read Matt Ridley's Genome I was afraid there would be alot I wouldn't understand. Thankfully, I was very wrong.
The subject matter is very interesting and told in a helpful, nonacademic manner. I would recommend this book to everyone who has an interest in biology and genetics.
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Genome-The Autobiography of a species in 23 chapters by Ralph D. Hermansen (Lake Isabella, CA United States)  4 Stars
November 27, 2007
Here is a book packed with newly-learned technical facts, yet it is easily read.
This book provided me with exactly the information, which I needed, at a key time in my personal research. I had previously learned how DNA and different kinds of RNA work together to manufacture proteins for the body. I was ready to learn more details about how different parts of the body use this engine. Matt Ridley and his book were "Johnny-on the-spot" for me. His writing style made it a painless journey for me and at times, it was downright exciting.
I especially liked the chapter on chromosome 8. I previously had thought little science was known about junk DNA. Now I understand that our DNA has been a battleground for viruses and other microorganisms over the last billion or more years. The junk DNA segments are remnants from those battles.
Another theme that impressed me was that all animal life uses the same biochemical solutions to exist and reproduce. We use the same twenty amino acids to build proteins. We have the same active genes in most cases. Even the way different genes work together is the same. I found this unifying concept to be awe-inspiring and to be another fact supporting the evolution of species.
The book deserves four stars because a lot of work obviously went into writing it. Matt Ridley is to biology as the late Carl Sagan was to astronomy. Both of these authors brought intelligence, understanding, and great story-telling skills to an audience, thristy for knowledge.
Ralph Hermansen, 11/27/2007
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Genetic Drift? by ron lon (Gulf Shores, AL) 5 Stars
November 04, 2007
4.9 stars. I like this book very much. This is a "novel" approach to explaining the genome which will become even more important in the future. I do not understand why Genetic Drift in not explained. Mutation, Natural Selection, AND Genetic Drift (statistical survival of alleles) are the primary mechanisms of biological evolution. He comes close to describing Genetic Drift when talking about Cavalli-Sforza's statistical analysis of the blood groups in 1970. This omission may be worth 0.1 stars.
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This Book Could Save Your Life by R. Schultz (Chicago) 4 Stars
September 02, 2006
I thought I had kept up with most of the major trends of discovery in the biological sciences. But this book explains research findings I haven't seen reported anywhere else. Some of these findings could save lives.
For example, Ridley explains some new research about the effectiveness of radiation/chemotherapy on cancer patients. Everyone faced with a diagnosis of cancer should read this chapter. Ridley says that scientists have found chemotherapy doesn't kill cancer cells directly. No, rather it works (to the extent it does) in a more roundabout way. It kills all sorts of cells in random fashion and thereby creates debris fragments. The presence of this debris then triggers still functional cells to turn on their "TP53" genes. It's these genes that direct the manufacture of an enzyme that destroys cells recently launched on their transformation into cancerous cells.
However, if a person's cancer has already progressed far enough along its course that the TP53 gene itself has mutated and been disabled - then treating that person with radiation/chemotherapy is generally worse than useless. The treatment can't trigger any TP53 genes into action. The patient just ends up enduring a debilitating series of treatments to little or no avail. So Ridley suggests that everyone faced with having to undergo radiation/chemotherapy be tested for TP53 damage first. If the tests show that their TP53 gene has already been compromised, then the chemotherapy couldn't help them much and shouldn't be attempted.
I have recently driven numerous people to hospital appointments after they have been diagnosed with cancer. But I am not aware that a single one of them was tested for TP53 damage before being launched on their grueling regimens of radiation/chemotherapy. If Ridley's information is correct, I would think that this sort of screening would be crucial. But as in so many other areas, I suppose it is up to the individual patient to educate himself. And this book makes an excellent, eye-opening first step in that process.
Ridley goes on to present some chapters on alcoholism that similarly could have practical applications. If what he says is true, some forms of alcoholism definitely have a genetic base - so it isn't very helpful to address these cases with the lengthy rounds of psychoanalysis, ego-boosting, or religious intervention that are currently being used. Ridley offers a very interesting hypothesis about why this alcoholism gene may be more prevalent in certain population groups than in others. But you'll have to read these ideas yourself and form your own opinion about whether they are "Just So" stories.
The main thesis of this book though is that - sex matters. Here again, I hadn't read much about this emerging understanding anywhere else. But it seems that a gene can behave differently in our bodies, depending upon whether we got that gene from our mothers or from our fathers.
Ridley sees these differential effects as another manifestation of the ongoing war between the sexes, this time being waged on the cellular, molecular level. The male's body and his Y chromosome try to maximize the number of viable offspring the male will have, regardless of the cost to his mate - and vice versa.
Again, this may turn out to be largely a Just So story. But except for one rather confusing, contradictory chapter on prions, Ridley presents all his material, both fact and interpretation, in a lively, readable form. I think you will certainly be enlightened and entertained by this book. And it may even save your life.
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