pomoevareads 's review for:

The Genome Odyssey: The Promise of Precision Medicine to Define, Detect, and Defeat Disease by Euan Angus Ashley

4.0

informative slow-paced

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Thank you to @celadonbooks for sending me an advance copy of The Genome Odyssey by Dr. Ashley which publishes February 23, 2021. 

This book follows genetic medicine since the human genome was mapped. The first 100 pages or so cover the history and advances in technology to read and interpret genome sequences. This part of the book felt a bit like a medical textbook but is worth your time in order to set the stage for the rest of the book that shares different patients and their rare gene differences and how they came to be discovered and in some cases treated. 

I found the different patient cases quite fascinating and enjoyed how the author painted the patient’s lifestyles and attributes in addition to their medical history. The author also gives credit and humanizes the many contributors to the puzzles. This information can sometimes seem indulgent as there are many names and I, as the reader, was anxious to get to the next case but is important as these are people who have made great contributions to science and medicine.

The author compares the decreasing cost of whole genome sequencing to the cost of a Ferrari that has depreciated in value to the point where many can afford it. Where it once may have cost 100K to complete, that can now be done for around 1K. It struck me throughout that the people who were able to use this scientific advancement to better understand their diseases were privileged people.  Except in rare occasions where donations to charitable organizations were made, the recipients were wealthy, connected individuals. With the ongoing advances in sequencing genes I hope that more insurance companies cover the cost and that it becomes more accessible to everyone. 

I really enjoyed reading this book and encourage you to pick this one up if you are interested in medicine, disease and science. Although many of the diseases the human genome sequencing is hoping to learn more about are rare, there are enough rare diseases that many of the readers will know at least one person who could benefit from this service.