Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in the Biomedical Sciences [Hardcover]

Gary Zweiger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 2001

This text provides a behind-the-scenes look at the sequencing of the human genome project and the birth of the science of genomics. It explains genomics as an information science and traces its history back further than standard histories and news accounts to the early visionaries who saw the gene as as information carrier. It covers the early protein work of leigh Anderson and John taylor to the entreprenerial ideas of protein chemist Randall Scott and his vision of mining the database of gene sequences for pharmaceutical riches. The book also looks at the developments that have come out of the human genome project and the birth of genomics, and how they will be influencing the world of science for years to come.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

What has made the Human Genome Project so deeply appealing? In one sense, it's just another large-scale, big-budget effort to keep a gang of nerds busy and out of trouble for a few years. Geneticist Gary Zweiger looks askance at this and explains how the confluence of information systems, big science, and business exemplified by the HGP is actually accelerating the pace of beneficial change for all people. Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in the Biomedical Sciences draws deeply on Zweiger's experience in biological science and biotech commerce to illuminate the scientific, economic, and legal issues relevant to the search for a more complete understanding of human genetics. Brimming with pro-capitalist optimism, he believes that the information revolution spawned the biotech explosion and will soon lead to better, cheaper solutions to a very broad range of health problems:

Knowledge of our internal information network will come mostly from an explosion of new genomic database analyses. A growing army of mathematicians and information scientists will develop increasingly powerful and more useful algorithms and computational processes for finding biomedical knowledge in these databases. A growing regiment of biologists and medical professionals with training in mathematics and information sciences will lead these knowledge discovery missions.

Zweiger assuages the reader's fears of gene patents with a brief foray into intellectual property law. It does seem unlikely that biotech patents will pose any more problems than standard pharmaceutical company practice. Combining scientific, legal, and business expertise, Transducing the Genome provides the most comprehensive overview of the birth of biotech yet written. --Rob Lightner

Review

"Gary Zweiger...provides a bracing insider's account of why gene structure matters to science and commerce. His focus is on transducing the information content of DNA into useful form. He teases out a powerful theme of genomics: its focus on methods of creating massive databases quickly." - American Scientist; "Transducing the Genome is a captivating overview of genomics. Geneticist Zweiger provides a clearly written and interesting account of the Human Genome Project, major players at the center of genome research, the origin of the genomics industry, the role of leading genomics companies, and the future prospects of the Genome Project.... This enjoyable and compelling story on genomics is har to put down." - Choice --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 269 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Companies; 1st edition (January 17, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071369805
• ISBN-13: 978-0071369800
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,202,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cutting edge science, science history, business, and more, May 20, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in the Biomedical Sciences (Hardcover)

This is an important book. It delivers a stunning commentary on cutting edge science, technology, business, and legal developments. There is no doubt that the human genome and the technology that enabled it to be revealed will transform medicine. Zweiger explains how in a straightforward manner that is approachable to anyone. There are parts of the book that are a bit technical and other parts that breeze along. It touches on a lot of different subjects, including the role of patents, venture capital, philosphical issues, and more. I feel that the author does a good job in being unbiased. He writes from his direct experiences. He touts many companies, but he also credits the efforts of academics and is critical or a bit skeptical of many things. Most importantly, he helps the reader understand what's going on in biotechnology and genomics today, what the underlying science is and what the motivations are. It has inspired me to learn more. I highly recommend this book.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genomics Explained!!!, February 21, 2001

By 

Arthur Ross (Los Altos, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in the Biomedical Sciences (Hardcover)

Finally, someone has explained what genomics is all about, where it came from, how it differs from traditional biotechnolgy, and what it means for the future of healthcare and the life sciences! The author does an excellent job of bringing this exciting field of business and science into focus. I would recommend this for anyone with an interest in the convergence of information sciences and life sciences. He basically covers all the bases, the race between the public and private sequencing efforts, the computational challenges of the field, the influence of patents, etc. It is a truly unique book and definately fills a void.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Proteomics too!!!, March 3, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Transducing the Genome: Information, Anarchy, and Revolution in the Biomedical Sciences (Hardcover)

Zweiger broadly defines genomics as the "access and analysis of thousands of molecules at a time". The book is just as relevant to proteomics as it is to more restrictive definitions of genomics. In fact Transducing the Genome starts out with the scientists' attempts 20 years ago to simultaneously characterize all proteins. Attention turned to DNA in the late '80's, but the early protein work is very relevant to today's efforts to conqueor the "proteome", which are also covered, although to a lesser extent. The book is an excellent read. It is reletively easy to follow and contains some very interesting and informative musings on science fiction, politics, law, business, and other matters. Enjoy!