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honnari_hannya's review against another edition
4.0
A cogent, comprehensive review of our understanding of genetics through the course of human civilization. This was written very accessibly so that even those with a minimal background in the sciences could digest and enjoy. I really enjoyed the way Mukherjee interspersed the history of genetics with the histories of the people who were consequential to discovering more about it, whether they be patients or scientists, as well as his own family history that definitely added a layer of depth to the book and gave it very human stakes.
greatlibraryofalexandra's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Wow, obsessed. I loved this book. It took us on a fascinating but layperson accessible journey through the history of this important building block of life, drawing personal, sociable, and scientific lines throughout. I appreciated how Mukherjee did not shy away from relating the ugliest side of this kind of science, but did take time to discuss the faults with it even as he examined the results of bad experience. He showed us a good mix of scientific enthusiasm and humane, ethical restrain, and I think he poses a really good question when he asks us to explore the question of what we would lose if we started eliminating 'bad' genes - we'd eliminate people, right? That is such a good thing to remember, in a world where we are so conditioned to believe Disabled folks would be "better off" if we could fix them - Mukherjee does an excellent job of refusing to sacrifice the human, and the soul, while discussing the benefits and the dark sides of where the future of the gene may take us.
For a companion piece, read Michael Crichton's "Next"!
For a companion piece, read Michael Crichton's "Next"!
jhrcook's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
To start, my credentials: I’m a geneticist with a PhD in computational genetics, specifically cancer genetics, and I now work in gene therapy research for a pharmaceutical company. Also I have read and enjoyed The Emperor of All Maladies.
A priori I really wanted to enjoy this book. The first 300 pages or so were exactly as expected: detailing the story of the advancements in genetics, weaving a narrative between the key insights and revolutions. It had the same feel as in Emperor of All Maladies.
This was followed by about 100 or so pages on social issues with weak, cherry-picked, evidence to support vague claims. This included a lot of opinion and personal stories. There was this feel of half-baked philosophical musings – there were silly analogies and pseudo-sophisticated sentences (i.e. they sounded nice and with a semi-poetic structure), but they didn’t hold up to simple scrutiny. I read through a chapter of this and then began skimming and skipping where I could see the content was of limited value or interest.
Finally, the last 50 or so pages touched on gene editing, though the rich history of basic research and technology development was skipped with a limited discussion of the discovery and development of CRISPR. In general, this section felt lazily written, as if either the author was hitting the editor's page limit or he didn't want to have to wade through several decades of dense research (genetics and biological research in general moves much faster and with greater volume than it did in Darwin's time).
In summary, the first 2/3 of the book are solid, the remainder is shaky and can be skipped. Throughout, there is a lot of fluff, a distracting number of poor analogies and quips, and odd repetitions of information and ideas (as if sections were moved around after all the editing and proofreading was complete). (Comparatively, Emperor of All Maladies was more thorough and better written and maintained its intensity throughout the entire book.)
lermonysnickers's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
I don't know or understand a single thing about any science and I was still able to read, annotate, and enjoy this chonky book.
repobi's review against another edition
5.0
Siddhartha Mukherjee itu penulis yang kompeten. Dia tahu apa yang dia tulis dan bagaimana cara menulis. Di Gen, dia menuliskan sejarah gen dengan penulisan yang memiliki sentuhan sastrawi tanpa terjebak dalam keruwetan istilah atau bahasa yang terlalu tinggi. Semua jelas dan runut.
karso's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
So far, this is the best book I've read that cover the history of genetics and the general concept of it. As a student currently studying genetics and biology, this book is so refreshing to read and particularly helpful in organizing my knowledge on the topic.
It's so well written and the author is really a good story teller.
It's so well written and the author is really a good story teller.
being_b's review against another edition
4.0
Wonderfully lucid science-writing. I think the first four sections are the strongest- when the author gets closer to the present-day and tries to draw conclusions, the ratio of information to text goes down considerably.
desh951's review against another edition
5.0
Such a well-articulated and interesting science book. The author has an incredible ability to create a sense of awe and fascination. I liked the personal experience that he added. The book really had me thinking.