The Gene
by Siddhartha Mukherjee, Dennis Boutsikaris · first published 2016
77% recommend17% neutral6% critical
Why HN recommends it
Accessible, story-driven history of genetics from Mendel and his pea plants to CRISPR and sequencing, with ethical discussion and personal asides; suits laypeople wanting a high-level overview.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
The Gene: An Intimate History is a book written by Siddhartha Mukherjee, an Indian-born American physician and oncologist. It was published on 17 May 2016 by Scribner. The book chronicles the history of the gene and genetic research, all the way from Aristotle to Crick, Watson and Franklin and then the 21st century scientists who mapped the human genome. The book discusses the power of genetics in determining people's well-being and traits. It delves into the personal genetic history of Siddhartha Mukherjee's family, including mental illness. However, it is also a cautionary message toward not
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…> Hillbilly Elegy J.D. Vance > Small Great Things Jodi Picoult > Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari > Born to Run Bruce Springsteen > The Content Trap Bharat Anand > The Gene: An Intimate History Siddhartha Mukherjee > Shoe Dog Phil Knight > Attitude: Develop a Winning Mindset on and off the Court Jay Wright > The Euro and the Battle of Ideas Markus K. Brunnermeier,…
on “Annual survey of book recommendations” ↗If I were to restart my career, this is likely the field I'd pursue. I read The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee last year and just became enraptured in the possibilities. I'm wondering if there's anything I can contribute to that field as someone with general programming…
on “Ask HN: What is the weirdest or most surreal (recent) technology you have seen?” ↗In line with this, I'd also like to recommend 'The Gene'[0]. The author has informed me of new things (Even though I studied biochemistry during college) and also focused a lot on the ethical discussions relating to genetic modification. It also directly discusses…
on “Five big mysteries about CRISPR’s origins” ↗…your loss. Dementia and schizophrenia are present in my family as well and caring for those in the later stages has been really hard. I found myself torn by the same question of whether to test for genetic predisposition. After reading The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose author is in a similar position, I have found some comfort in deciding not to test for now. As he says in an NPR interview: >…
on “What Happened to Lee” ↗If you’re a layperson wrt genetics, check out ‘The Gene’ by Siddartha Mukherjee - it’s not too dense, interspersed with personal stories he relates to genetics and a great read. His book on cancer is also amazing, ‘Emperor of all maladies’
on “Thanks to interbreeding, just 7% of our DNA is unique to modern humans: study” ↗…http://gizmodo.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-crispr-... . This podcast by Radiolab also breaks down the idea really well - http://www.radiolab.org/story/antibodies-part-1-crispr/ . I am currently reading this book - The Gene http://www.amazon.com/Gene-Intimate-History-Siddhartha-Mukhe... to gain a better understanding of what genes are and I have found it to be really well written even for someone who last studied biology…
on “Scientists Find Form of Crispr Gene Editing with New Capabilities” ↗…Child - J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany (recommended for HP nostalgia) Elon Musk - Ashlee Vance (recommended) Shoe Dog - Phil Knight (highly recommended) Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (meh) The Gene - Siddhartha Mukherjee (currently reading, recommended so far)
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗If you have some time, The Gene [0] is a good read. One of the cases the author describes is when a lot of people decided to be very optimistic at the same time and things didn't end well. Not questioning your frustration though, but…
on “A Baby with 3 Genetic Parents Seems Healthy, but Questions Remain” ↗This was addressed in the appropriate chapter in The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee[1]. It was the first I had heard of Rosalind Franklin and I was very grateful for this account which gave appropriate recognition. (Side note: the entire book…
on “Feynman’s Breakthrough: Disregard Others” ↗Lying - Sam Harris. Behave - Robert Sapolsky. Gene: An Intimate History - Siddhartha Mukherjee
on “Ask HN: What books have most influenced the way you see the world?” ↗I highly recommend "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee https://www.amazon.com/Gene-Intimate-History-Siddhartha-Mukh...
on “A Most Important Discovery (1953)” ↗If you're interested in genetic engineering/CRISPR, check out the following book: Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. He does a fantastic job of layman's writing on science, his other book on Cancer is fascinating and extremely well written,…
on “Ask HN: Getting started in biology with a software background” ↗For a good read, I recommend The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
on “Researchers generate complete human X chromosome sequence” ↗As a disclaimer I haven't read CODE, even though it's been on my list for a while (sounds like I ought to prioritize it!). From my understanding of the style I believe The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee is a similar take on genetics. It stays fairly high level as it doesn't require a molecular biology degree, but Mukherjee gives a fantastic primer on many…
on “Ask HN: Petzold's CODE: books that teach in the same way but not about computers” ↗The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee Teaching the history and story of the scientists who made different genetic discoveries, and along the timeline they made those discoveries, made everything make sense.
on “Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?” ↗