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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Paperback - 2006

by Matt Ridley

"A fascinating tour of the human genome. . . . If you want to catch a glimpse of the biotech century that is now dawning, and how it will make life better for all of us, "Genome" is an excellent start."--"Wall Street Journal." Includes a new Foreword by the author.


About this book

The most important investigation of genetic science since The Selfish Gene, from the author of the critically acclaimed and best-selling The Red Queen and The Origins of Virtue. The genome is our 100,000 or so genes. The genome is the collective recipe for the building and running of the human body. These 100,000 genes are sited across 23 pairs of chromosomes. Genome, a book of about 100,000 words, is divided into 23 chapters, a chapter for each chromosome. The first chromosome, for example, contains our oldest genes, genes which we have in common with plants. By looking at our genes we can see the story of our evolution, what makes us individual, how our sexuality is determined, how we acquire language, why we are vunerable to certain diseases, how mind has arisen. Genome also argues for the genetic foundations of free will. While many believe that genetics proves biological determinism, Ridley will show that in fact free will is itself in the genes. Everything that makes us human can be read in our genes. Early in the next century we will have determined the function of every one of these 100,000 genes.

From the publisher

"Ridley leaps from chromosome to chromosome in a handy summation of our ever increasing understanding of the roles that genes play in disease, behavior, sexual differences, and even intelligence. . . . . He addresses not only the ethical quandaries faced by contemporary scientists but the reductionist danger in equating inheritability with inevitability." -- The New Yorker

The genome's been mapped. But what does it mean? Matt Ridley's Genome is the book that explains it all: what it is, how it works, and what it portends for the future

Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.

Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.

First line

In the beginning was the word.

From the rear cover

The genome's been mapped.
But what does it mean?

Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.

Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.

Details

  • Title Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
  • Author Matt Ridley
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition 1 Reprint
  • Pages 368
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Harper Perennial, New York
  • Date 2006-05-30
  • ISBN 9780060894085 / 0060894083
  • Weight 0.61 lbs (0.28 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.02 x 5.32 x 0.88 in (20.37 x 13.51 x 2.24 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Human genetics, Human genome
  • Dewey Decimal Code 599.935
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
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Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

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