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Title: The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome by John Sulston, Georgina Ferry ISBN: 0-309-08409-1 Publisher: National Academies Press Pub. Date: 15 October, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (5 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: A cliched tale of good and evil - guess who's the good guy
Comment: This is an entertaining book with little to recommend it on the human genome side. It's full of cliches and poorly drawn analogies. The story of the worm project (for which the author later received the Nobel Prize) was terrific, if poorly written. Sulston is a guy who clearly hates Venter and is full of venom, only thinly disguised by his holier than thou attitudes - poorly argued for his side, at that.
The book is half good in that it presents a notable first person episode in science, but is too self statisfied and non-reflective to be useful in understanding the important questions raised by the book.
Rating: 3
Summary: A private account of a very public milestone
Comment: This is a chronologically written, biographically styled account of the race to sequence the human genome. This book is co-authored by an English scientist who finds himself drawn into an increasingly political battle, both to beat the private sector to completion and to defend the genetic information gleaned from falling under commercial patents. He casts Celera Genomics' Craig Venter (the private sector competitor) as the villain in this account. I suspect there are many more sides to this story (Venter himself gives wounded rebuttals aplenty in subsequent interviews). How passionately you agree with Sulston's own conclusions depends very much on your opinion of private sector bioscience and how biological information should be subject to intellectual property rights. If the decoding of the human genome interests you, this public sector account of what happened should clarify and colour the picture. A small criticism: The different methods of cloning, mapping and sequencing are complicated stuff and key to understanding how this story unfolds - the non-technical reader could benefit from a basic glossary of technical terms.
Rating: 4
Summary: A Gripping Insider's View
Comment: Books like this let you feel, if for only a moment, that you are walking among giants. John Sulston's memoirs of the battle for the human genome is deeply written and brutally honest, immersing the reader in a side of science rarely seen by the public. Presented as an archetypal clash between good and evil, the contest of wills pits John and the open scientific community against Craig Venter and the forces of corporate interest. It is a defence of the purity of science from the corruption of greed.
Before this, though, comes an introductory glimpse into the formative years when molecular biology and genetics slowly converged. As richly detailed as this early history of both John's life and the field of genetics is, however, much of this narrative seems detatched. Large sections are told factually, and the story misses much of the emotional investments found later in the book. Still, it is a serviceable introduction to one of the most important events of the twentieth century.
And so the story of the genome picks up in earnest in the second half of the book, when John's struggles with both politics and himself infuse an essential aura of human depth. It's as well-put together as any thriller; even prior knowledge of the outcome of the race doesn't diminish the suspense and sheer anticipation of each event. The scope and depth of the human genome project is laid out in broad strokes, with many major players acting out their roles to keep science free and open. There are plot twists and double crosses, triumphs and setbacks. But the surest sign that the common good won out is that the information of our very heritage is freely strung across the internet.
Despite the book's flaws -- the prose is rarely eloquent -- the story is essential reading for anyone even remotely interested in the inner workings of science and politics. Certainly, there is a danger in only seeing one side of the story. However, John's excitement and noble intentions are undeniable: the world can benefit more from unbridled selflessness than from runaway capitalism.
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Title: The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World by JAMES SHREEVE ISBN: 0375406298 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 |
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Title: The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepeneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology by Ingrid Wickelgren ISBN: 0805071741 Publisher: Times Books Pub. Date: 09 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.00 |
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Title: Cracking the Genome: Inside the Race to Unlock Human DNA by Kevin Davies ISBN: 0801871409 Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
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Title: In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite by Andrew Brown ISBN: 0231131461 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body by Armand Marie Leroi ISBN: 0670031100 Publisher: Viking Books Pub. Date: 06 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $25.95 |
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