Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

As a molecular biologist, I read it for perspective. I think the average person would be surprised by the science and the content. It is well written and well grounded in science

Was disappointed at the date of the book . Originally published in 1999 , then 2002 , then 2006 . At that age the book is barely relevant to today's fast pace . Amazon should go out it's way to specifically note the latest published date especially with tech books.
Not a keeper

Although ostensibly about DNA and the human genome, it is actually more of a philosophical view of the human condition using a handful of genes as examples of the way us naked apes function, mentally, physically, emotionally, even socially. The book thankfully does not often get heavily into the deep scientific aspects of DNA research.

For the most part, an entertaining book written in a generally engaging manner. As mentioned elsewhere, it is a bit uneven. Sometimes Mr. Ridley had to really reach to come up with a gene that he could write about, or enough to say about it to pad the article out to chapter length. Somewhere around chromosome 17 or 18, I don't know if he started running out of steam or I did. Don't try to read the whole thing continuously; take a few days off between chapters, you'll find it easier to maintain enthusiasm.

I bought this book as a text book for a class I was dreading. I am NOT a math or science person, but the subject matter is of interest. This book is a pleasant surprise. It dumbs down the material enough for us novices, but still is written intelligently where we have to reach a bit to understand it. I actually enjoyed most of the book and couple with my professor's teaching style, I learned and retained a lot more than I imagined. Would be a great book as an introduction for personal knowledge and growth, for math and science people as well as those of us who are not.

I would give the book 4.5 stars. With a Masters degree in molecular biology, I was able to understand all (well, nearly all) of the biological, evolutionary and genetic concepts introduced and discussed in the book. However, I surmise that someone without a degree/knowledge of biology, and in particular molecular genetics, some concepts in the book may be slightly difficult to understand fully.

However, having said that, Matt Ridley is an outstanding writer. He makes dry topics sound interesting, stimulating and geniuinely exciting - all of which makes the book a page turner. He does a very good, albeit not flawless, job of explaining biological/genetic concepts for the laymen. However, I would recommend, especially for the laymen, to read slower in order to really understand what the author is saying. It's easy to understand the big picture, but to truly understand the topics/concepts the author discusses occasionally requires re-reading some passages and paying attention to details.

The only complaint, is that despite Ridley's otherwise excellent explanations, it seems that at times he is in a hurry and glosses over some concepts, leaving the reader on his/her own to grasp the concepts. However, this does not happen too frequently in the book, and either way someone else may have a different interpretation from me.

None of the above, I should note, should be taken as though Ridley's writing is difficult and/or technical. It absolutely is not. It is written in an easy prose, with very little technical jargon, which even when present, is explained fully. The occasional difficulty noted above, lies not with linguistics, but with biological/genetic concepts.

Otherwise, I highly recommend for anyone!

Although I've read books about DNA before, this one had quite a few new surprises and insights in it. For instance, each time a cell duplicates itself (during embyology or in the process of everyday bodily upkeep), a cell copies its DNA, but fails to copy the first few letters of each DNA strand. Thus the strand gets a little shorter each time it is copied. Each chromosome is equipped with a "telomere", a several-thousand letter buffer zone on the ends which can be safely discarded. Thus, one of the limits to human life spans (or other animals for that matter) is the number of times a cell can be duplicated before it starts to lose meaningful DNA. The DNA of sex cells do not shorten when copied because of a repair enzyme known as telomerase. Perhaps immortality depends upon (among other things) using telomerase in other cells.

Cells must be able to duplicate in order to repair damage due to daily wear and tear. But the duplication must be kept under strict control; cancer is the uncontrolled duplication of cells. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy work by damaging cell DNA, which triggers the body's own tumor-suppression genes to cause the tumor cells to self-destruct.

I had never heard before that genes can be switched on and off in response to external events, and that give a whole new dynamic view to the genome. Ridley explains that most genes in most cells at any given time are "turned off". But, for example, the body makes cortisol in response to stress, and cortisol is made by switching on a gene that produces an enzyme to convert cholesterol into cortisol. He gives the impression that this is not some isolated case, but commonplace in everyday events. This leads to implications on free will vs. genetic determinism.

Free will
Ridley gives the best description of free will I've ever heard: "If genes can affect behavior and behavior can affect genes, then the causality is circular. And in a system of circular feedbacks, hugely unpredictable results can follow from simple deterministic processes." This is an example of a chaotic system, like the weather. Tiny variations in input conditions soon yield enormous differences in output, and the weather is thus unpredictable in detail beyond a few days in advance (although we know general patterns, such as the fact that summer will be warmer than winter). "This interaction of genetic and external influences makes my behavior unpredictable, but not undetermined. In the gap between those words lies freedom."