When a Gene Makes You Smell Like a Fish: And Other Amazing Tales about the Genes in Your Body (Hardcover)

~ Lisa Seachrist Chiu (Author), Judith A. Seachrist (Illustrator) "I was by all accounts a strange child, but for as long as I can remember, I've been fascinated with inheritance..." (more)
Key Phrases: fish odor syndrome, lactase gene, nodal flow, Gene Makes, United States, Tangier Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Although Chiu uses a catchy title, cute jokes and soft watercolor illustrations by her mother to disguise this book as popular science, she has produced a rigorous and detailed survey of the most recent developments in human genetics; a "Genetics Primer" is appended, and many readers will no doubt need it. The first chapter, on a woman who smelled so badly of fish she had to take a three-month leave of absence from work, seems at first the usual, chatty fare of much popular science writing. Within a few paragraphs, however, Chiu has launched into a complex discussion of gene mutation and enzymes. Chiu writes best in her detailed accounts of these genetic oddities, but the names Chiu and others have given the genes responsible ("The Cheeseburger Gene," "The Werewolf Gene," "The Calico Cat Gene") often belie their seriousness, a problem echoed in Chiu's personal anecdotes, which seem to serve less as relevant commentary than as deliberate bids for a larger readership. Chiu's greater contribution is in her willingness to trust her audience with explanations of genetics research that are long, dense, complicated and surprisingly accessible.
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Review

"One of the joys of Chiu's catalog of genetic oddities is that you can flip through it and imagine yourself endowed with abilities conferred by one of these tiny molecules: the ACE gene, which increases endurance, and the Schwartzenegger gene, which boosts muscle mass, would make you into a heck of an athlete, for example. Another joy is that, in reading, you learn that these are not really oddities at all, but changes in common cellular machinery shared by us all.... Chiu tells these tales not as a genetic Ripley's Believe It or Not, but as cleverly drawn illustrations of how the body works, highlighting ways in which our greater understanding of things that at first seem just weird lead to paths to the greater good, including roads that may lead to the better treatment of disease."--Josh Fischman, Senior Writer, US News and World Report

"This is a layman's guide to human genetics. It provides a fascinating and thoroughly delightful way to learn about the field all the way from classic mendelian genetics to epigenetics to transposons and genomics. This is a remarkable collection of stories about the discovery and elucidation of some rare or not so rare genetic disorders." --Victor A. McKusick, University Professor of Medical Genetics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, author of Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and recipient of the National Medal of Science

"This is an enjoyable and fascinating tour through modern genetics. Tucked among the interesting anecdotes about the settlement of early America and the madness of King George are easy to follow explanations of single-gene disorders, the recently identified phenomenon of imprinting, and new research into how genes are born and evolve over time. Readers will come away not only with a better understanding of biology but some curious tales to tell their friends." --Carol Ezzell Webb, Freelance writer and editor


"One of the joys of Chiu's catalog of genetic oddities is that you can flip through it and imagine yourself endowed with abilities conferred by one of these tiny molecules: the ACE gene, which increases endurance, and the Schwartzenegger gene, which boosts muscle mass, would make you into a heck of an athlete, for example. Another joy is that, in reading, you learn that these are not really oddities at all, but changes in common cellular machinery shared by us all.... Chiu tells these tales not as a genetic Ripley's Believe It or Not, but as cleverly drawn illustrations of how the body works, highlighting ways in which our greater understanding of things that at first seem just weird lead to paths to the greater good, including roads that may lead to the better treatment of disease."--Josh Fischman, Senior Writer, US News & World Report
"This is an enjoyable and fascinating tour through modern genetics. Tucked among the interesting anecdotes about the settlement of early America and the madness of King George are easy to follow explanations of single-gene disorders, the recently identified phenomenon of imprinting, and new research into how genes are born and evolve over time. Readers will come away not only with a better understanding of biology but some curious tales to tell their friends." --Carol Ezzell Webb, Freelance writer and editor
"This is a layman's guide to human genetics. It provides a fascinating and thoroughly delightful way to learn about the field all the way from classic mendelian genetics to epigenetics to transposons and genomics. This is a remarkable collection of stories about the discovery and elucidation of some rare or not so rare genetic disorders." --Victor A. McKusick, University Professor of Medical Genetics at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, author of Mendelian Inheritance in Man, and recipient of the National Medal of Science

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195169948
• ISBN-13: 978-0195169942
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #997,467 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative, Literate, Entertaining...but, February 22, 2007

By	Avid Reader (Franklin, Tn) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

So why didn't I award five stars if it was all of the above? Page after page of jaw-breaking scientific terminology, words with endless numbers of letters, arcane and almost unpronouncable terms, etc. made the task difficult. Any science writer must occasionally use the language of their profession. Cosmology, physics, geology, mathematics - all use technical terms that are difficult for outsiders to comprehend.
Biology is at a disadvantage due to its taxonomy and its use of Latin as a universal tongue. Yet Gould proves that one can speak to both the layman and the professional with his essays (layman) and large detailed technical works (professional).

How much easier (and enjoyable) this work would have been if the Appendix had become a preface! There are incredible tales here - the story of how genes affect us in all our myriad ways from the way we smell to what we can eat or taste. The heartbreaking stories of those with rare but now identifiable genetic ailments again demonstrate the incredible workings of the human body. The way proteins, DNA, chromosomes and genes interact is nothing short of a miracle.

One can almost understand the belief in Intelligent Design until one realizes that the "design" aspect in these cases is not only faulty but also malevalent. Perhaps the most interesting aspect was not the weird afflictions but the workings of the body - how genes work together, turning on and off chemical reactions in an astounding, continuous series of billions of simultaneous reactions. The good thing is that for the first time in history we are at the point of correcting nature's mistakes and ending much misery. Ms Chiu makes a good case for natal scanning of a wide range of diseases and hopefully we will soon have the tools to fix the defective ones we find.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read even if its not for a class., October 14, 2009

By	E. Bryant (California) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: When a Gene Makes You Smell Like a Fish: ...and Other Amazing Tales about the Genes in Your Body (Paperback)

This book is a good read if your into understanding genetics and all the weird quirks that make people the way they are. If you have no background in science, there will be parts that go over your head. Even if you do enjoy science, there are sections that do bore but are necessary its purpose. Overall, it was fun and enlightening. I am a biology major so I am somewhat bias.

2 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Valuable for any expectant parent on PKU (pg 21), etc., November 3, 2006

By	R. Johnson "Constant Customer at Amazon" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The editor is correct. This is a meatier book than the title implies. It does contain much well researched and presented information. I bought this book for my son, the father my first grand-child. He's been very interested in genetics and how each trait was passed to Adeline. However, when I asked him if the hospital had performed a PKU test, he had no idea. There is an excellent overview on why this common test is a necessary event for every newborn (beginning on page 21). I would suggest that every prospective parent needs to understand the importance of this test as a positive safeguard for his or her child's early development. Risk is slight, but early knowledge is imperative.