"The Gene: An Intimate History" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

This is Mukherjee's second book, after "The Emperor of all Maladies" and it is just as prolific as the first one. He describes this as a prequel to "Emperor" in the sense that cancer is a genetic disease, so in describing cancer he is describing how genes go wrong. While both books compliment each other, it is also fine to read them separately. Honestly, this book is very similar to "Emperor", nearly all the comments that I had for one apply to the other.

When Mukherjee titled this "An Intimate History" he meant it. Similar to "Emperor" there are many stories of patients and their lives, as well as the researchers who sought to help them. In this novel he also brings in his own family (similar to Carla from "Emperor") to illustrate how genes have impacted him personally through his family tree.

Mukherjee takes us through genetics and the idea of a gene all the way from Mendel and Darwin to the present day. He does not shy away from ethical dilemmas, and discusses the future and the wonders we will be able to perform then. But he cautions against taking this power too far, after all there are no "right" or "wrong" genes, just genes that are better suited to different environments.

He also includes a brief discussion on genetic investigations into sexuality and gender. While he presents a good overview of the findings, he leans heavily towards the genes = gender idea (note that I did not say genitals, I am referring to the Y chromosome here, which can be suppressed and results in what is considered as female genitalia), which I am hesitant about. Because there will always be one person who reads that and disagrees and is alienated by the text. So there could be more nuance to that discussion, but the science appears sound, just be cautious treading here.

One thing that I was surprised he didn't talk about was GMOs, or genetically modified organisms. These are usually crops that have been altered to express different genes. Such as rice that is more water-resistant, or corn with added nutrients. There has been a lot of controversy over GMOs lately, since people think that they are dangerous and only want "natural" foods. Which is kind of funny really, as there is no such thing as "natural" crops, we have been selecting genes for centuries and breeding the best ones, creating GMOs is akin to taking that process and speeding it up a little. There is nothing dangerous about it. Anyways, while Mukherjee ignores GMOs, he does talk about stem cell research which is more interesting anyways.

Another great book from Mukherjee that makes science accessible to the general public. I would highly recommend it, whether you are studying genetics or just mildly interested in the field.