Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding how our genes work 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

by Kat Arney (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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ISBN-13: 978-1472910073

ISBN-10: 1472910079

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Length: 289 pages
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The language of genes has become common parlance. We know they make your eyes blue, your hair curly or your nose straight. The media tells us that our genes control the risk of cancer, heart disease, alcoholism or Alzheimer's. The cost of DNA sequencing has plummeted from billions of pounds to a few hundred, and gene-based advances in medicine hold huge promise.

So we've all heard of genes, but how do they actually work?

There are 2.2 metres of DNA inside every one of your cells, encoding roughly 20,000 genes. These are the 'recipes' that tell our cells how to make the building blocks of life, along with myriad control switches ensuring they're turned on and off at the right time and in the right place. But rather than a static string of genetic code, this is a dynamic, writhing biological library. Figuring out how it all works – how your genes build your body – is a major challenge for researchers around the world. And what they're discovering is that far from genes being a fixed, deterministic blueprint, things are much more random and wobbly than anyone expected.

Drawing on stories ranging from six toed cats and stickleback hips to Mickey Mouse mice and zombie genes – told by researchers working at the cutting edge of genetics – Kat Arney explores the mysteries in our genomes with clarity, flair and wit, creating a companion reader to the book of life itself.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Arney] delivers an alluring tale of science at its most humble and probing, at least as practiced by the company of skeptics and scientific investigators . . . A robust, bouncy, pellucid introduction to DNA and genetics." ―starred review, Kirkus Reviews

"Writing in a breezy, irreverent style, Arney, a science journalist specializing in genetics, explores what is known about the inner workings of the genome. Her results are both fascinating and surprising." ―Publishers Weekly

"The author is often highly amusing, and she knows her stuff . . . An intelligent and engaging look at human genetics." ―Library Journal

"As readers look over the investigators’ shoulders . . . Arney has well primed her readers to share the intellectual excitement sure to come when today’s pioneers announce their findings." ―Booklist

"Herding Hemingway's Cats will instantly turn you into the most interesting guest at any party--it's a joy to read and a masterclass in making the complex story of life accessible, entertaining and relevant." ―Mark Stevenson, author of AN OPTIMIST'S TOUR OF THE FUTURE

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Following a doctorate and subsequent research career in genetics, Kat Arney is now Science Communications Manager for Cancer Research UK, where she translates science into plain English to help people understand more about the disease. Kat is also a science writer and broadcaster, whose writing has appeared in the Guardian, Science, New Scientist, BBC Online and Al-Jazeera Online.

According to BBC America, Kat is one of the 'Top 10 Brits Who Make Science Sexy', and she regularly appears on national TV and radio shows, including Today, BBC Breakfast and Daybreak, talking about the latest cancer research. She has presented several BBC Radio 4 science documentaries and programmes in the Costing the Earth series, is a regular presenter with the Naked Scientists, and presents and produces the Naked Genetics monthly podcast.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B015RKFCPK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Sigma; 1st edition (January 14, 2016)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 14, 2016
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 575 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 289 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 1472910079
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #882,683 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #286 in Genetic Science
- #934 in Evolution (Kindle Store)
- #2,117 in Science & Math (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
82 ratings

About the author

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Kat Arney

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Kat Arney is an award-winning science writer, broadcaster and public speaker, and is the founder and Creative Director of science communications and media consultancy First Create The Media. She is the author of 'Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life' (BenBella Books, 2020), 'How to Code a Human' (Andre Deutsch, 2017, republished as 'The Compact Guide: DNA') and the critically acclaimed 'Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding how our genes work' (Bloomsbury Sigma, 2016).

Kat holds a bachelor's degree in natural sciences and a PhD in developmental genetics from Cambridge University, and has spent more than 15 years working in science journalism and communication. She was a key part of the science communications team at Cancer Research UK for more than a decade, co-founding the charity's award-winning Science Blog, and acting as a principal national and international media spokesperson.

Her writing has featured in Wired, BBC Online, the Daily Mail, the Times Educational Supplement, The Guardian Online, Nature, Mosaic, the New Scientist and more. Kat presents the popular Genetics Unzipped podcast for The Genetics Society and has fronted several BBC Radio 4 science documentaries, including the recent series 'Ingenious' looking at the stories behind our genes and comedy factual series 'Did the Victorians Ruin the World?' with her sister, comedian Helen Arney. She was a co-host of the Naked Scientists radio show and podcast, and presented the Naked Genetics podcast for many years.

Customer reviews

5 star		75%
4 star		18%
3 star		6%
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Top reviews from the United States

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Tero

Accomplishes to summarize fairly recent finding in separate chapters quite well

Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2020

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When I got the book, I went "oh oh" as I noticed it has no illustrations. If you know nothing about DNA, don't start here. Get one of them slim college study guides that has enough pictures to explain the genetic code etc.

What we find here are some amazing things about DNA. Your DNA and mine are so similar to the DNA of chimpanzees, that most of the protein coding regions are the same. There is no reason for one mammal to make insulin that is much different from another. The changes are nearly all in the control mechanisms. This book is about the controlling regions in DNA. There are switches that turn on genes, many of them far away from the protein coding regions. Something must bind there and turn them on or off.

It's a rather complicated story, but there are plenty of examples from the animal world to make it clear.

There were some comments about her use of language in a joking way. I don't see it as a major problem for anyone reading the book.

I guess it remains for someone to expand on this and add illustrations as we move forward. But this is a good start to re-orient your "stuck in dogma" view of DNA.

Would be 5 stars if she had added just a few illustrations.

One person found this helpful

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Bill

Genes are important but the epigenetic factors that control them may be even more important

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020

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I listened to the audio book. Kat Arney is an experienced podcaster who clearly enjoys the audio medium. The basic message ( I finished it a couple of months ago and have certainly forgotten important parts) is that the genetic mechanisms that control which genes are active in which cells and when are critical to the proper functioning of the complex chemical reaction that we call life. When they go slightly wrong creatures may be born with extra fingers or toes. Another way they can go wrong leads to cancer. Progress is being made, but unraveling this complex control system built by natural selection seems to be much more difficult than sequencing the genome. Basic genomics has a central dogma that turned out to be pretty simple and nearly universal across life. This book indicates that the control of different genes and in different organisms may occur in different ways. Life is a complicated mess.

One person found this helpful

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Roy J. O'Kelly

Loved the spaghetti analogy

Reviewed in the United States on September 6, 2016

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Excellent book. Ideal for someone with a basic scientific background who is not working in genetics and wants to be brought up to date on our current understanding of the topic. Other reviewers have mentioned that it is bright, witty, and engaging. It is. The writing style makes the hours spent developing an understanding of the topic far more enjoyable than reading the scientific papers and text books from which this kind of understanding must normally be extracted. The study of DNA and RNA has advanced rapidly over the last decade. Information more than a couple of years old is dubious and the language of microbiology is something only a mother could love. Kat provides an easy to understand account of where we are today and perhaps most importantly the limits of what we know, which you might find surprising. That broad overview is frequently brought to light through first hand conversations with leading researchers. I’ve been studying genetics recently and feel that I got a more cohesive overview from this book than I did from the previous 6 months of plowing through traditional resources.
If you want to know more about the spaghetti analogy you'll need to read the book :).

6 people found this helpful

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RedAnt

POV of a university research computing staff member looking to better understand this field.

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2017

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This book was exactly what I was looking for to cleanse me of my ignorance. To my surprise I found it to be a real page turner, far from the sleep inducing tomb I expected. Having just finished the book you might ask if I feel less ignorant. Truthfully I can answer that I am a lot more comfortable with the subject than when I started. The terms are many and complex, but like a foreign language I have some hearing comprehension even if I lack the ability to effectively speak it. This is a very well written book. I expect to retain a bit more on a future reread. In the end I still retain significant ignorance, but I now understand that I am not alone.

5 people found this helpful

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bgsbog

Herding Hemingway's Cats: the perfect primer in genetics for a novice and a fun read for an expert

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2016

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I found Hemingway's Cats to have a refreshing take on some well-covered topics; of course, it also taught me some new things and discussed the most recent research. Thus, I recommend this book as an excellent introduction to genetics as it would be suitable for people with little knowledge of science, but it would also be great for someone who knows the field and wants to expand or refresh their knowledge.

Arney also hits new and hot topics, like epigenetics/epigenomics, imprinting, CRISPR, and the ever-expanding list of RNAs. In addition, she hits some of the "wow science" one would expect from a popular science book. Want to know more? [...]

9 people found this helpful

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ScienceReadingGal

Truly exceptional and informed book exploring the frontiers of how our genes actually work, very highly recommended!

Reviewed in the United States on January 22, 2018

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There are not enough stars on Amazon to reflect how much I adore this outstanding book. When I ordered it I first thought, "Well here I am sacrificing several delectable cafe lattes for yet another boring book on genetics," but boy was I wrong. Instead of rehashing common material it focuses intensely on the ultra-complex and fascinating world of gene expression, an area of growing interest and discovery. Somehow she manages to convey complicated biology (and the conceptual debates raging therein) without jargon or those sentences you need to re-read like ten times before they sink in. In fact every paragraph is a delight to read, with prose rich with fun metaphors and breezy tidbits. There is simply no other book on the market that illuminates this murky yet critical area of biology so well and with such flair. Five hundred thousand stars for this one.

3 people found this helpful

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Mauricio J. Motles

Wonderful and recommended book...poor title !

Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2018

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I liked very much this book because it gives the lay reader an overview of how the genes work quite updated !. We discover that the simple, clear and nice mechanisms we learned at school about genetics, DNA , RNA and protein, are really that : simple sketches. Life workings are very much complicated and interesting.
I did not like the title. I must confess that prior to reading the book, I did not know what Hemingway's cats were. Even though they might be interesting, the book is much, much more than that.

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Top reviews from other countries

David Martin

Confidently embracing uncertainty, an inspiring though unsettling read.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2017

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I teach this at University level and am therefore quite interested in the subject. Dr Kat Arney takes what can be a bewildering shoal of facts, suppositions and ownright ornery obeservations and steers a confident passage through them. The style is wonderful - it brings the personal into it in a very clear way that emphasises the understanding we have at the moment is a reflections of how we interact with the observations. That molecular biology is not a molecular machine but as devious and confusing as any human activity.
I'm definitely recommending this to my students. If they are looking for 'the facts' to learn to pass the exam then thy may well be disappointed. If they want to engage with the curiosities, the uncertainties, the downright strange and be inspired to find corners to poke in for their own research then this is a book that can really set them going.
I see the scope for a few class prizes too!

One person found this helpful

Mr. S. J. Oxley

Does what it says on the tin.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 1, 2016

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Finally, an easy to understand book on genetics. Wish I'd had this at uni. It's nice to read a book from a scientist who knows how to turn a collection of difficult info into something understandable to us mere mortals.

6 people found this helpful

rogerhusky

What a great book - a perfect Christmas present

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 20, 2016

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Herding Hemingway's Cats: Understanding how our genes work (Bloomsbury Sigma)
What a great book. Best popular science book [in the best sense of the term] around on genes and epigenetics, and I have read many. Very clear despite lack of diagrams, very up to date and very wide-ranging, especially its coverage of the latest ideas which might or might not become mainstream, gained by touring the World talking to top scientists. The author is a scientist herself who used to work in this area, and it shows (by her obvious in-depth understanding and simple explanations of sometimes complicated ideas).
Add to that a good helping of humour, and you have the perfect Christmas present for anyone with an enquiring mind.
I've not quite finished reading the Kindle edition, but the book inspired me to rush off and write this review, as it's still time to buy before Christmas.
I just hope the author is able to update the book from time-to-time, or maybe will set up a web site where she can provide updates to the book.
All this and written by a cat! Maybe that's why she understands mice so well.
(No, I don't know, nor have any connection with, the author.)

One person found this helpful

ANTONY JOHNSON

Read this and reset your understanding of DNA and genetics

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 15, 2017

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I must admit, it took me a good while longer than I'd have liked to get to the end of this book. However, I'm so glad I picked it up again.

The conclusion may make those looking for definitives feel undersold. That feeling though, results not from the book's contents but from the conclusion one might draw from that about where we are in the journey towards understanding how biology - and physics - work.

Surprising in its breadth, this book is written in a style that scientists of a puritanical nature may not enjoy. I, as an engineer, found it just right despite an initial personal struggle with a slippery sensation of intangibility. I got over that.

Keith G

Highly rated goes into some great detail and explains how our genes work without being boring

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 29, 2016

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A really good book very well researched and written. I struggled in parts to follow some of the scientific studies and findings then the writer skillfully gave some analogies that explained more about the connections with DNA and every day life. For any scientific buffs who want a understanding of DNA this is definitely a book that would not disappoint. My interest was at best basic but I learned so much that I did not know and it certainly explained a lot about evolution of human beings. I will need to read this book several times to understand more about our genes and DNA and I will look forward to that. I would rate this book amongst the best books I have ever read even though I could only manage a chapter a day because it gave me so much to think about. The writer Kat Arney comes across as a very nice friendly person.

One person found this helpful