Genome:
The Autobiography of a
Species in 23 Chapters
by Matt
Ridley
fascinating tour of the results of the most momentous scientific endeavor
of our time--the Human Genome
Project--cleverly told in 23 essays, one for each chromosome.
Following in the tradition of James Gleick's
Chaos, Matt Ridley vividly brings to light the most profound
scientific discovery of the century--the mapping of the human genome. In
charmingly witty and lucid prose, Ridley
describes what the human genetic code is, how it works, and demonstrates
how this newfound knowledge will affect medicine, the
pharmaceutical industry, business, politics, and
our own lives.
Genome is divided into 23 chapters, one for each
chromosome, each of which tells the story of a
particular gene and how it affects an individual: from intelligence and
personality to disease and sexual behavior.
Examining a scientific achievement on par with--and with as many dire
implications as--the splitting of the atom, Genome
makes clear who we humans are--and where we may
be going.
A former editor of the Economist, Matt Ridley is
the author of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution
of Human Nature and The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the
Evolution of Cooperation. He lives in
Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, with his wife and two children.
fascinating tour of the results of the most momentous scientific endeavor
of our time--the Human Genome
Project--cleverly told in 23 essays, one for each chromosome.
