The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepeneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology [Hardcover]

Ingrid Wickelgren (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0805071741 | ISBN-13: 978-0805071740 | Publication Date: October 9, 2002 | Edition: 1st

A fast-paced account of the wildly ambitious scientists who spearheaded a scientific revolution

It was one of the greatest races in science. A confluence of ambition, intelligence, and money fueled the complete mapping of the human genome, the ultimate conclusion of a process that began fifty years ago when Watson and Crick broke open the essential structure of DNA.

In the 1970s and '80s, most scientists considered sequencing the human genome a foolishly impractical dream. But as time went on, several breakthroughs revealed that this goal-medicine's Holy Grail-was within reach. As the race heated up in the 1990s, science as we know it took on a whole new dimension, with private corporations elbowing out the government and academic labs. Inevitably, a race of another kind ensued, as scientists competed for credit and battled over the release of results into the public domain. High-flying scientists like gene king William Haseltine, cowboy biologist Craig Venter, and the altruistic and collectively minded Human Genome Project chief Francis Collins became media darlings, jockeying for attention, accolades, and potential riches. In this narrative account, Ingrid Wickelgren delves deeply into their motivations, fears, goals, and conflicts to reveal a fascinating story of big science, big dreams, and larger-than-life personalities.

In the tradition of the classic The Microbe Hunters, The Gene Masters sheds light on the people behind one of the most contentious and enterprising scientific endeavors of our time.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The highly publicized events leading up to the 2001 publication of the Human Genome draft sequences in Nature (the public sequence) and Science (Celera's private, i.e., patented, sequence) form the outline of these absorbing, accessible, and complementary books. The stories go back 15-plus years, the cast of characters is large and international, and the events are still a work in progress. Sulston won this year's Nobel prize in medicine and physiology and formerly headed the Sanger Centre, Cambridge, United Kingdom, a major Human Genome sequencing center. Here, he gives a firsthand account of the excitement, hard work, vision, and daring needed to move from worm biology to recommending sequencing of the human genome, while senior and influential colleagues argued vigorously against it. He speaks forcefully of the necessity of keeping the sequence public and freely available. While Americans played a major part in this drama, it is good to have the European perspective and influences represented. Science magazine contributing correspondent Wickelgren focuses on the commercialization of the research process and some of the major players, particularly Craig Venter (Celera), Francis Collins (NIH's National Human Genome Research Inst.), and Kari Stefannson (Iceland's DeCode Genetics). Both books sharply highlight the fundamental tensions and interdependencies between both academic and industrial research and international competition and collaboration, and they also show the extent to which the biopharmaceutical industry is both science- and profit-driven. Many issues around gene patenting are clearly not yet settled, as these excellent books reveal, and the Human Genome Project will continue to be as much about politics, public opinion, and public relations as about science and technology. One quibble: Sulston includes a few web sites in his notes; Wickelgren cites none. Both titles are recommended for almost any library, particularly those with readers willing to go beyond sound bites and media hype.
Mary Chitty, Cambridge Healthtech Inst., Newton, MA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This book is on a par with the deeply informative Cracking the Genome by Kevin Davies (2001) and differs from that work by putting greater emphasis on the commercial and governmental competition to sequence the human genome. (Davies' work delves deeper into the molecular nitty-gritty of DNA.) The author credits biologist Charles DeLisi with conceiving the government's human genome project. In a turf battle, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) took it over, thus involving one of its scientists, the soon to be famous and controversial J. Craig Venter. Not temperamentally suited to governmental proceduralism, Venter departed to create the gene-sequencing business Celera. Wickelgren meticulously records the meetings, funding, and hiring of personnel undertaken by Celera, NIH's Francis Collins, and companies run by William Hazeltine in Maryland and Kari Stefannson in Iceland. Disagreements and negotiations among such "gene barons" flesh out Wickelgren's carefully modulated narrative, which along with the Davies book represents the significant first draft of this historic episode in science. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Times Books; 1st edition (October 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805071741
• ISBN-13: 978-0805071740
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,974,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn science, understand scientists, December 17, 2002

By 

Barbara (Eugene, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepeneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology (Hardcover)

Gene Masters is a rare combination: a page-turner that teaches science and the process of science. I knew something about the human genome project before I read this book, but I was royally entertained by the personalities that contributed to sequencing the genome. Both non-scientists and scientists in other disciplines will painlessly learn the rudiments of genomics. The most interesting aspect of this book is that it shows how the personalities of the scientists influenced the science. Wickelgren shows that there is more than one way to approach a scientific problem; there is not one "right way". She shows that the approach chosen by each scientist is influenced by his or her personality. One person may choose a safe but slow method, another a riskier but potentially faster method. She also illustrates the complexities of scientists as humans. Scientists want to be first and famous, but they also want to do something important, something that will improve the human condition. Sometimes these complex mixtures of motivations work synchronously; sometimes they clash. In this book, science becomes accessible and scientists become human. I highly recommend it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully lucid and exciting story, December 17, 2002

By 

"michaelnelson5" (New Paltz, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepeneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology (Hardcover)

It is rare to find a book that explains hard science so clearly and articulately. I remember reading in the papers about the discovery of the human genome, but never was able to understand the entire importance -- and DRAMA -- of what was going on until I read The Gene Masters. The author masterfully weaves the scientific with the personal: it's exciting stuff that comes at a fast clip! This is a great read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Gene Masters" Tells A Fascinating Story, November 30, 2002

By 

Robert L. Koenig (Takoma Park, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gene Masters: How a New Breed of Scientific Entrepeneurs Raced for the Biggest Prize in Biology (Hardcover)

This well-written and fast-paced book does an excellent job of presenting the fascinating story of the Genomics Revolution and some of the scientists who led it. The author captures the drama of the Human Genome competition but also describes and explains the important scientific advances earlier in the 1990s that laid the groundwork for that monumental achievement.