Genome

Rating:
Summary: Feeling Out the Future
Review: This book reminded me that chimpanzees & humans are 98% the same genetically. Cigarette smoking accellerates the aging process. Is the human brain and head a maternal inheritance (Thanks mom)? Could 'mad cows disease' have occurred just because some farmer decided to have parent cows mate w/their offsprings to create super-cows? There are a lot of 'eyebrow raising' genetic experiments that have already happened that no one really talks about. Yes, Dolly was cloned---are humans far behind? It's going to be interesting to see what happens next (in real life w/this whole gene therapy business). I strongly recommend this book for anyone. There are some highly scientific-technic lines in this book that can easily be skimmed over. It is certainly a GREAT book for any biologist, immunoligist or scientist because it sparks excitement to be 'in the know' or 'the ease of researching a new discovery'. The field is wide open. The book reminded me of a film called GATTACA that I'd seen a few years back--that movie could have been seen as a sci-fi sort of film---but how close to reality is it? Read this book and gain insight to your own intelligence. After this book I'm anxious to see A.I.-Artificial Intelligence, the new Spielberg film, that is being released this month, June 2001. I'm sure it will give us more of a glimpse of what the Human Genome Code has in store for us in the future.

Rating:
Summary: Should be read by everybody.
Review: This is very interesting book showing to public what really is our life in a biological perspective. What sens it has (biological only), and how we do realize this sens. I think that having knowledge found in Ridley's book we will be able better understend our behavior as well as behavior of other humans.

Rating:
Summary: The Guinea Pig R US
Review: This book is an excellent primer on genetics and genetic engineering--GE 101. However, Ridley is pro genetic-engineering and apparently thinks that he has made the case for it. I found more than enough information in the book to convince me that genetic engineering is a very bad idea. Apparently Ridley either hasn't thought about the ramifications of tinkering with processes and triggers about which we know almost nothing, or he really doesn't understand on a deep level the hazards of releasing into the environment (and our bodies) modified genes that are designed to cross species, invade cells, and proliferate. I found his arguments in favor of genetic engineering superficial, and he says nothing about the growing body of evidence on the hazards of genetic engineering.

In the chapter in which he talks about BSE (Mad Cow disease), Ridley repeatedly said, "We don't know." Well, if we don't know, we shouldn't be tinkering with it, particularly because research practices such as taking biohazard precautions are not regulated (and are no longer used), nor are there any meaningful regulations for safety in field testing. Ridley also conveniently forgets to tell you that genetic engineering is controlled by industry, whose bottom line is the dollar--we knew that--and thinks nothing of testing their products on third world people.

For a better look at the health and ethical ramifications on this topic, I recommend Genetic Engineering: Dream or Nightmare by Mae-Won Ho, a geneticist and biologist (remember that Ridley is a science writer). The genie is out of the bottle and the guinea pig R us.

Rating:
Summary: Reading the recipe
Review: Ever since the dual announcement in Britain and Washington on June 26, 2000 that science had completed the draft of the human genome there has been a growing interest on two fronts: (1) the general, popular-science reading public and (2) the scientific community. The rough draft is known but that is still only 8,000 genes out of the estimated 60,000-80,000 residing on the 23 pairs of chromosomes in the DNA of each of us. Since this book came out less than a year ago, science has been finding genes at the rate of several hundred per month - about 10,000-12,000 are now known. The author says "I genuinely believe that we are living through the greatest intellectual moment in history...until now human genes were an almost complete mystery. We will be the first generation to penetrate that mystery. We stand on the brink of great new answers but, even more, of great new questions." The interest is infectious and obviously a lot of us share this same sense of awe and mystery; just look at number of new books on the subject. Matt Ridley's GENOME is one of the better ones.

Mr Ridley approaches the task of introducing us to the human genome with skill and imbues us with his sense of mystery. Each gene has a story and he cleverly selects one story for each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in human cell DNA and makes each a chapter of the book. Reading the recipe of the human genome becomes Ridley's book on human nature: life, history, fate, environment, intelligence, instinct, disease, personality, sex, memory, and death. In looking at some of the more contentious issues in genetics, Ridley shows that with the human genome, only one thing is certain - puzzles abound. Take the following examples:

> Having read the recipe as a primer, Mr Ridley looks at some of the recent research on the heritability of intelligence and is led to conclude that "the heritability of intelligence may therefore be about the genetics of nurture, just as much as the genetics of nature."

> The 'gay gene' is a creation of the media; science sees things differently. After mentioning the alternative theories for homosexuality such as the correlation with birth order, the book says plainly that sexual antagonism among genes is a highly plausible cause. "The idea of genes in conflict with each other...between male genes and female genes, is a little known story outside a small group of evolutionary biologists."

> The reaction to stress is another paradox. The production of natural steroid hormones such as testosterone causes the suppression of the body's immune system. Mr Ridley says "this is even more puzzling" because "it means that whenever you are stressed by a life event, you become more vulnerable to infection, cancer and heart disease" It's like "kicking you when you are down...Why?"

> One of the more fascinating puzzles involves the possible connection between prion genes and brain debilitating afflictions such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and mad cow disease. "Prions retain deep mysteries, the foremost of which is what on earth they exist for...[it] almost certainly concerns the brain, which is where the gene is switched on...[but we are] still no nearer to knowing why we have this potentially lethal gene."

The merits of the book are many: it's unique presentation - 23 concise chapters corresponding to genes linked to human nature; it's infectious sense of wonder; it is well written - where science permits it Mr Ridley loses no opportunity to be witty. Overall the GENOME is thoroughly enjoyable and educational.

Rating:
Summary: An ectremely well written book
Review: This is a very well written book, meant to entertain as well as inform. Ridley does a great job of presenting many aspects of genetics in an easy to understand storytelling style. The book opens up many interesting aspects that are missed in more academic books.

The most interesting chapters for me, as a neoeugenicist, were on intelligence, eugenics and free will. He does a superb job on eugenics and opens up new insights on free will, pointing out that environmental determinism and genetic determinism are not germane with regards to social policy.

He falters a bit however when he gets to intelligence. He can't bring himself to either leave the subject alone when it comes to differences in the average intelligence between races, or just come clean and tell the truth. He has seen too well what has happened to his colleagues who have been forthright on this subject -- censorship and intimidation from the Left.

Instead he states that, "Indeed, the implication [of racial differences in intelligence] is not only logically false, it so far looks empirically wrong, too. Thus does a large pillar of support for part of the thesis of the recent book 'The Bell Curve' crumble. There are differences between the average IQ scores of blacks and whites, but there is no evidence that these differences are themselves heritable. Indeed, the evidence from cases of cross-racial adoption suggests that the average IQs of blacks reared by and among whites is no different from that of whites." This last sentence is plain flat out lying. And of course he must know that this whole argument is absurd, and furthermore to be academically honest he needs to address "The g Factor" by Jensen, a more recent book than "The Bell Curve."

To give an example of how absurd this statement is, and also how common similar statements have become to dance around the subject of intelligence by scholars, it is as if to say that heritability of stature is 80% amongst both pygmies and the Bantus of Africa. But there is no evidence that pygmies are on average shorter than the Bantus because of genetic differences. We would all be bewildered by such a statement, and yet that is the standard politically correct statement when it comes to intelligence. (Would we not expect pygmy children adopted into a Western family to be somewhat taller than the average pygmy, but still much shorter than the average American?) But by now we should be used to these dismissive statements by scholars who fear retribution for not being sensitive to the new egalitarian ethos.

Aside from this one cowardly act of intellectual dishonesty, the rest of the book seems to be free of bias.

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining
Review: I enjoyed Matt Ridley's style in this book. I am sure lots of controversy surrounds the things he discusses, but he was nevertheless good at driving home what matters despite the arguments: GENES ARE NOT THERE TO CAUSE DISEASE.

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Summary: Sex and the large brain - dynamics of the genome
Review: Do you know that we, human beings, have proportionally the largest brains of all species? Perhaps you know that, but do you know why? I thought it was because our ancestors needed to be clever about inventing new tools to increase their chances of survival as a species in the game of natural selection, but as it turns out in the book, this old style of evolutionary reasoning is probably not true. Instead, we have evolved large brains because of a constant battle between our sexes. Males think of elaborate ways of seducing females, but females find sophisticated ways to resist. There is a constant 'conflict' that perpetuates the increase of the brain size, because as one sex gets ahead, the other must keep up. When females get too sophisticated in resisting, males must keep up in seducing, and vice versa. These games of manipulation are not a product of our free will, or culture, but rather, a consequence of 'sexual antagonism' of the X and Y genes.

You may have a thousand of objections to such propositions at first, but Matt Ridley will guide you through those and other fascinating relevations about our genome with rich examples and sound arguments. Understanding evolution at the molecular level helps finding answers to previously puzzling questions such as: Is IQ inheritable? Can one avoid a disease if she finds out that a gene guarantees the onset of the disease with 100%? How do gay people fit into the scheme of evolution, where reproduction is essential? Do genes always code for what is best for the species? Is there a free will? Can our body, brain, and genes get along, or affect each other or who really is the boss?

If you want to find out, you must read the book. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Challenging but Fascinating
Review: For someone with no scientific background (me!) this book is a bit more challenging than other reviewers suggest. Be prepared for the eyes to glaze over a bit when the author explains gene sequences and structure, but keep plugging, because the real world explanations of the consequences of these minute structures and tiny differences and variations within them are fascinating. One need not understand the science to quickly realize the enormous popular misconceptions about gene therapy--the identification of gene research and therapy with cloning is most unfortunate, because cloning is hardly the most exciting or interesting thing to come out of this area. Rather, the author helps one clearly understand why medicine so far has been quite unsuccessful in dealing with cancer; the explanations of the origins of disease are riveting; and this reader realized that the entire controversy over genetically altered food is silly when genetic alterations occur every second, every time a living thing reproduces. I also realized that all knowledge in this area before 1980 is pretty much obsolete-- with the advent of technology and the ability to scan billions of data elements to detect patterns and variations, hundreds of "proven" theories have gone out the window. Even if you only understand half of the material in tis book it's a very worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: A formidable fascinating book
Review: A tour de force of science writing -- does for molecular biology what David Attenborough's films do for the natural world. The explanations are never mundane or dull, though one is often positive that the science itself must be on some level (or else I would have gone that way in college). In large part, the examples help -- they are never less than fascinating, and the writing is a marvel of clarity. It's a book I wish I had written, because I like to think I am that clever.

Rating:
Summary: for PROFESSOR STEINER of MENLO COLLEGE
Review: At first, I thought that this book would be an extremely tiresome and jaded scientific manuscript. But then, I entered Matt Ridley's world of gene sequencing, basic genetics, and the human genome project. I realized that every single unit of life on this planet is unique and distinctive. He imposes the importance of the human species and he explains the different idea of genetics one chromosome at a time. Ridley tries to explain DNA, not in clusters of facts and specifics, but in a broader perspective.

An interesting part of my read would be his take on genetically modified foods and genetic alterations of chromosomes. Ridley is brilliant in uncovering the mystery of DNA. He talks about genes that influence speech, behavior, intelligence, emotions, survival, pestilence, and so forth. He gets to the nitty gritty aspect of genetics in the last few chapters. He talks about genetically made super humans. Personally, I feel that science should have boundaries and this is one of them. I feel as if eugenics is a way for scientists to play God, and I think that is revolting on both their character and the science itself. Granted, there are benefits to genetic exploitation, I still believe we should leave this aspect of genetics alone.

My favorite part of the book would definitely be his questioning and answering of "free will". This evokes so many questions in my head and paradigms to who I am. Since I am a Communications Major, I believe that destiny is an act of "free will". But now there is a slight hesitation towards my conviction after reading the book. In some cases, I believe that our behavior is genetically pre-shaped, but ultimately God determines our fate.

Overall, this was a great read and I enjoyed it. I can attest that its thickness may be swaying for science students; it is an easy book to enjoy whether you're a Communications Major or a Biology Major. Professor Steiner, thank you for encouraging the class to read this book, even though it was extra credit.