Customer Reviews

Cracking the Genome: Inside the Race to Unlock Human DNA

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I bought this book last week, and I'm about half way through it. I have a problem with Davies explanations of the "gene searches" that he recounts. I am not a biologist, but I have a reasonable background on the topic of DNA and protein synthesis. The main issue is that he does not provide enough information to really understand the techniques involved in mapping and sequencing DNA. He seems to be assuming either that the reader has some background knowledge in laboratory techniques, or really doesn't care. For example, he describes the technique "positional cloning", stating that it rapidly increases searching through millions of base pairs once you have found the chromosome of the disorder. He even describes a fragment of the technique, saying that the ends of a region of the DNA are ligated to form a ring which allows "jumping", which is preferrable to "walking" along the sequence. As a reader, I don't really understand the full scope of the problem, and so I can't really appreciate the improvement in technique that was invented. Another example of this is when he describes how Eric Lander proposed using bacteria growing in a petry dish, which has been augmented with mutated genes from a population of humans with a genetic disorder, to ferret out the location of the mutation on the gene. He describes the goal, and the gist of the technique, but neglets to tie it together, to facilitate comprehension of why it actually works. There are many other examples of this.

Other than that, I am enjoying the book, and I have gotten some comprehension of the problems that the genetecists are trying to solve. For example, his description of Craig Venter's technique of sequencing cDNA is quite good. Also, his description of the method (divide and conquer) Venter et. al. used to speed up the sequencing of the whole Genome of some kinds of bacteria was quite intuitive. Although here again, the magic of the computer program algorithmically re-assembling the pieces of sequenced DNA was a bit mysterious. His historical accounts of the scientists, the politics, the agencies, etc, is quite good.

Overall, I would recommend this book. Especially if you don't care as much about the technical details as I do. And even if you do, perhaps a textbook companion would help.

This is an extremely readable account of personalities and events that have occurred in the genome field during the last decade (plus some). It is basically two books. One is the story about the politics and events surrounding the public and private efforts to sequence the human genome. The other is a brief survey of medical genetics to put the genome sequencing effort in context. By medical genetics I mean the genetically unusual and useful individuals and populations that geneticists study to find and understand disease genes. For example: the Huntington's disease story. The medical genetics stories have all been reported on in other books of this type but the comprehensive account of the public/private genome efforts is worth reading to those who have been following the magazine and newspaper accounts. It essentially collates all of the stories and news bites of the last several years into a single coherent narrative. As an earlier review noted it is short on science but that is what makes the book a good read. You can pick up the minimal science facts necessary from many other books and web sites.

I've been an engineer in the DOE genome program for about 10 years now. Many of the stories in the book I've heard first hand from people who were either in the room or were participants in the events. It is as accurate a version as any I've seen. Usually I shy away from these types of books but this one is a must read if you really want to get beyond the hype of the popular press.

Although science is not everyone's favorite subject, the story of the sequencing of the human genome is of importance to every person on the planet.

The story of the Human Genome Project itself, which is an illustration of how the private sector can succeed where government funded projects have difficulties, is interesting in itself. Even outside of the medical and ethical implications, this story is worth reading for that information alone.

But where this book really provides important food for thought is in the medical and ethical arena. It is now possible to find the location and coding for diseases and potential diseases using this information. How will we use this information? To create cures for devastating degenerative diseases like Huntington's, to find cures for the incurable? Or will we use it to deny medical care to people deemed potential insurance risks.

One thing that came out of the study was the surprising small number of genes that comprise the genome--one third the number that had long been predicted. Clearly, the genome is an instruction set, and the blueprints to build a human, and the errors that create disease, are written in how the genes are interpreted by the biological mechanism.

How we should utilize this information, for good or evil, in years to come will surely be some of the most controversial and important discussions we will have. This book is an excellent place to start in order to understand the basis of this world-shaking achievement.

This book is a very important contribution to both the scientific and the business literature for the lay person. It provides an overview of the development of our understanding of heredity from Gregor Mendel's pioneering work until the human genome was 99 percent sequenced in early 2000. The book then looks beyond that remarkable success to outline the even greater and more challenging work ahead. By contrasting the expensive, slow public effort with the agile, rapid progress of private industry, the book is also a cautionary tale about how to accelerate scientific progress through private incentives.

Many books about scientific advances focus a lot on the science. Cracking the Genome does that as well, but the book is improved by considering the personalities of the people involved, their interactions, public policy questions, ethical discussions, and science fiction like speculations about the eventual shape of the scientific applications of this work. These perspectives are valuable for expanding your understanding, as well as for making the book much more interesting.

Frankly, the book could have used a little more science. I recommend that you read the recent book, Genome, as well which will give you a more detailed understanding of the underlying structure of the genome and how it works.

The Human Genome Project was originally conceived of as a public project funded by three billion dollars in taxpayer money taking 15 years. At the half-way point in the project, only 4 percent of the human genome had been sequenced. A one-time NIH (National Institutes of Health) neuroscience researcher, J. Craig Ventor, had been arguing unsuccessfully for a computer-based "brute force" method as faster and cheaper. All of the M.D.s (who can be pardoned for not understanding the potential of math and computers) couldn't understand why it might work, and Ventor was vilified. He went off to found a private institute that made great progress using his methods. Then in 1998, he joined Perkin-Elmer. From there, he was able to complete the sequencing in 2 years using three hundred million dollars. So the work got done for about a tenth of the cost and about 8 times faster than the planned alternative. The public project was given vast increases in funds to try to keep up with Ventor's group, and both projects were completed within a few months. Victory was proclaimed at the White House, and both groups honored in June 2000.

One of the most interesting parts of the book is that the controversy over patenting genes was started by NIH under Bernadine Healy. In the public press, this has been treated as an intellectual grab by private industry. In this light, it seems like a response to what the government did.

I loved understanding the implications of having sequenced many different living organizations, and also the potential benefits from sequencing proteins and enzymes. Everything fell into place.

I suspect that those who invest in biotechnology would especially benefit from this book. It looks to me like the large strides that we all hope for from this science may be further off than I had initially envisioned. Companies like Genentech were originally synthesizing normal human material, like human growth hormone. It is obviously a much tougher job to find all of the genes that may influence a disease (plus the environmental factors) and combine that understanding into a treatment. Then putting it through all of the testing can take another 8-10 years. I suspect that the big payoffs from this work are probably more than 30 years away. I hope not. Perhaps J. Craig Ventor and other stallbusting thinkers can conceive of useful short-cuts. I certainly hope so!

After considering all of the fascinating issues in this book, I suggest you consider where else we might get better results from tinkering with incentives rather than by trying to use government as a vehicle to get the results. For example, as it takes longer and longer to develop new medications, would we be more likely to get a greater variety if the patent protection period were extended by ten years? I think so. In fact, that would probably be much more valuable than doubling the budget for NIH.

Then look at whatever organizations you work in or with. Where are you trying to do it the old, slow way rather than seeking out entrepreneurial solutions?

Abolish the bureaucracy stall!

Ken Davies has written an informed observer's account of the passionate race to solve what some believe to be the most profound scientific riddle of our era: decoding the human genome. His book is an undertaking of ambitious scope: He aims to paint the personalities in all their human colors and offer an accurate historical account, while also drilling deep enough into the research to do justice to the science. He does a beautiful job of suggesting the profound personal motivations of the two protagonists of the drama, scientists Francis Crick and maverick scientist J. Craig Venter. Short of earning your Ph.D. in molecular science, this may be as close as you ever get to understanding what the hoopla was really all about. We [...] recommend Davies' book as a must for savvy thinkers in the biotech business, and an enlightening read for the rest of us mere (genetically flawed) mortals.

This is not a book that will tell you the specifics of exactly how the genome is being/has been mapped. If that's what you want, get another book. If, however, you are looking for a behind-the-scenes look at the race to crack the genome, this is the book for you. You'll hear stories pertaining to some of the leading scientists in the field. I read it and enjoyed it, but I am a genetics major in college, so I obviously like genetics. I would suggest that you read this only if you are already interested in the subject, otherwise you will be bored.

I bought this book last week, and I'm about half way through it. I have a problem with Davies explanations of the "gene searches" that he recounts. I am not a biologist, but I have a reasonable background on the topic of DNA and protein synthesis. The main issue is that he does not provide enough information to really understand the techniques involved in mapping and sequencing DNA. He seems to be assuming either that the reader has some background knowledge in laboratory techniques, or really doesn't care. For example, he describes the technique "positional cloning", stating that it rapidly increases searching through millions of base pairs once you have found the chromosome of the disorder. He even describes a fragment of the technique, saying that the ends of a region of the DNA are ligated to form a ring which allows "jumping", which is preferrable to "walking" along the sequence. As a reader, I don't really understand the full scope of the problem, and so I can't really appreciate the improvement in technique that was invented. Another example of this is when he describes how Eric Lander proposed using bacteria growing in a petry dish, which has been augmented with mutated genes from a population of humans with a genetic disorder, to ferret out the location of the mutation on the gene. He describes the goal, and the gist of the technique, but neglets to tie it together, to facilitate comprehension of why it actually works. There are many other examples of this.

Other than that, I am enjoying the book, and I have gotten some comprehension of the problems that the genetecists are trying to solve. For example, his description of Craig Venter's technique of sequencing cDNA is quite good. Also, his description of the method (divide and conquer) Venter et. al. used to speed up the sequencing of the whole Genome of some kinds of bacteria was quite intuitive. Although here again, the magic of the computer program algorithmically re-assembling the pieces of sequenced DNA was a bit mysterious. His historical accounts of the scientists, the politics, the agencies, etc, is quite good.

Overall, I would recommend this book. Especially if you don't care as much about the technical details as I do. And even if you do, perhaps a textbook companion would help.

I am an avid popular science reader and very much enjoyed reading this book--a nice blend of science and more personal aspects in the genome and very readable! I also thought the discussions of the genome and its impact on disease were useful. I just finished reading the book "Decoding Darkness" on the genes that cause Alzheimer's and got a much deeper appreciation of how the human genome being decoded is so helpful -- Davies'book really put the big picture of the genome in perspective -- so it was fun to happen to read these back to back -- both are highly recommended!

The story of the race for the genome is a fascinating one, and Davies is the first to tell the story of J. Craig Venter's triumph against the multibillion dollar government scientists. A great story of entrepreneurial spirit and scientific integrity.

This book is not only about genetics or the human genome. It is more about the 50 years or more of research that lead to the "cracking" of the human genome, trying to cover the entire process, including scientific, technological but also entrepreneurial and political aspects. The journey starts with Gregor Mendel's peas, through the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, up to the discovery of the first genes and the using of markers and technology to speed up the sequencing of DNA. In the last chapters he also describes the immense possibilities of this discoveries, not only in medicine, but also in history and even in criminal investigations.

At some point, the author describes a true race for mapping the full genome. The participants in this race were on one side several private laboratories who were seeking to patent the genes they found to produce more medical cures for illnesses and on the other side, public funded researcher teams from several countries including USA, Japan and some European countries. This is probably the unique part of the book, there are not many science books that explain how different groups of researchers arrive simultaneously at the same results, spurred by a kind of rivalry (this time even the underlying interests were completely opposite, one part seeking patents for business reasons, the other part motivated by a desire to prevent this patenting from happening and to leave the genome as "property of mankind"). In the end the results of one of the parties enrich the other's and vice versa, thereby achieving huge jumps of knowledge in a relatively small time period and making humanity the final winner of both quests.

The book is not easy to read and at some points, one would like a deeper explanation of the hows. I enjoyed the explanation of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA, which is written in a beautiful and interesting way. (The author suggests reading the first-hand account by James Watson, what I will definitely do.) This part and the scientific part underlying the mapping of the genome were described with sufficient detail. It is the technical or technological part (which is the one that really accelerated and in the end made the completion of the enterprise possible) that deserved more explanation, like the using of markers as well as the principle behind the sequencing machines used by Venter for the sequencing of DNA. Some steps in the logical reasoning were skipped or obviated by the author, so I did not quite understand how the markers are used. I understood the result, but missed the logic that lead to the shortcuts to the sequencing process introduced by Mr. Venter. In "The Seven Daugtehrs of Eve", you can find a bit more detail on the marking process.