Drawing the Map of Life

Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project (A Merloyd Lawrence Book) Hardcover – June 22, 2010

Author: Visit Amazon's Victor K. McElheny Page | Language: English | ISBN: 046504333X | Format: PDF, EPUB

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Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project – June 22, 2010
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From Publishers Weekly

Veteran science journalist McElheny (Watson and DNA) concludes about the human genome project, the government-sponsored effort, completed in 2003, to decipher the entire human genome: "the big-scale science of genomics represents an explosion in knowledge that shows no sign of contracting." Indeed, the topic is huge and gets bigger with each passing year. By attempting to cover as much of the field as he does, McElheny makes it difficult for all readers to be fully informed: he lacks the necessary space to provide the detailed genomics background that would make the advances wholly comprehensible. Nonetheless, the author does two things very well. His description of the politics that led to the human genome project becoming the first megascale biology research program (akin in a number of ways to some large-scale physics projects supported by governmental funding) is clear and illuminating. Similarly, McElheny does an impressive job at explaining the current and future benefits likely to arise from the genetics data flooding into scientists™ laboratories. He is able to link pure research with medical advances, providing hope for concrete breakthroughs in individualized treatment while demonstrating that the money invested in this huge project has been well spent.
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From Booklist

McElheny, who has written a biography of James Watson (Watson and DNA, 2003), here discusses the scientific and bureaucratic genesis of sequencing the human genome, accomplished a decade ago, and follows up with the developments since 2000 that have potential medical applications. Careful to be technically clear, McElheny reviews a series of discoveries and inventions in molecular biology (such as polymerase chain reaction) that by the early 1990s presented possibilities for vastly accelerated analysis of DNA. Bureaucracies mobilized—too slowly for National Institutes of Health researcher C. Craig Venter, who left government to map the genome as an entrepreneur. Both he and his federal rival have had their say about the genome race (Venter’s A Life Decoded, 2007; Francis Collins’ The Language of Life, 2010), so McElheny’s freshest information concerns post-2000 genomic news. Not aiming at readers looking for information on specific diseases or treatments, McElheny explains recent research to the science-minded and reports on new discoveries about RNA and whole new fields such as pharmacogenomics. Well practiced in presenting biological complexity, McElheny should circulate in active science collections. --Gilbert Taylor

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Books with free ebook downloads available Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project – June 22, 2010

Series: A Merloyd Lawrence Book
Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Basic Books; First Edition edition (June 22, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 046504333X
ISBN-13: 978-0465043330
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,238,230 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

I finished reading Drawing the Map of Life: Inside the Human Genome Project by Victor McElheny. This fascinating book covers the Human Genome Project (HGP) from its esoteric origin with the double helix structure of DNA by James Watson and Francis Crick through the public genome research and private ventures of Francis Collins and Craig Venter, et.al. It is a testament to the trials and tribulations that ultimately brought together some of the best scientific minds for the collaborative betterment of mankind. This project, perhaps more than any other in history, demonstrates the push-pull and often adversarial relationship between academia and private industry can lead to outstanding results.

McElheny's involvement not only as a science reporter, but as coordinator of human genetics conferences from the early days of the project, gives you the sense that he really knows the people that the book is written about. His storytelling style draws you into the often complex subject in a compelling way. When the project began, the effort required to sequence 3 billion nucleotides (subunits) was mind-numbing and beyond the imagination of most of the scientific community. It took the vision and dreams of the committed few to convince the many, that not only was the project worthwhile, but that the estimated cost of $1 per nucleotide, could be achieved. In comparison, the roughly $3 trillion spent annually on health-care in the United States, this modest investment of $3 billion over the 20 years of the big-science human genome sequencing project smacks of under-investment. Surely vindicated in retrospect, it also serves as a reminder that big-science conducted openly in the public domain has far reaching implications to global well-being.