Astonishing and marvelous

A wonderful dive into the roles that various different genes play in our health and well-being, as well as the context and impact of this knowledge. Although biotechnology has advanced even farther in the 17 years since the book was published, it is still an informative and engaging read.

Отличный научпоп, высокий уровень. Жаль была написана уже 20 лет назад, в области где прогресс идет быстро

يختص الكتاب بعلم الجينات وتطورها عبر ملايين من السنين وصولًا للحدث الأهم ، اكتشاف خريطة الجينوم البشري

الكتاب مقسم إلى 23 فصل ، في كل واحد منها يتناول الكاتب جينًا من الجينات ويروي كيفية اكتشافه ، والأبحاث المتعلقة به ، ورؤيته الشخصية لمستقبل هذا الجين

 كتاب جميل جدًا ، لكنّه يحتاج إلى بعض الأساس القوي إذا أردت أن تفهمه بشكلٍ كامل ، وهو جيد أيضًا لغير المختصين ، وعندهم شغف بالاطلاع على الموضوع دون التعمق فيه

الترجمة للأسف لم ترتقِ للمستوى المطلوب...

A genome is an organism’s complete set of DNA, including all of its genes. Each genome contains all of the information needed to build and maintain an organism. In 1953 Francis Crick and James Watson decoded the structure of DNA and with this discovery Crick exclaimed “We’ve discovered the secret of life.” What they discovered was that the main purpose of genes is to store the recipe for making proteins. The proteins are what determine the color of our hair, fight infection, and carry oxygen as well as almost everything the body does. Crick and Watson decoded DNA by labeling its parts as A,C, G and T.
Chromosomes where, however, discovered much earlier, in 1878 by Walther Flemming, and they are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells. Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of (DNA).

Over the latter half of the 20th century individual chromosomes have been linked to specific character traits. The author proceeds to explain each link and provide a history as well as the specific sequences of molecules that provide variable traits. For example, Intelligence is found on Chromosome 6, Instinct is on Chromosome 7, Disease comes from Chromosome 9.

I want to explore Chromosome 11 which determines Personality. Dopamine interacts with the D4DR gene on Chromosome 11. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It is a chemical messenger that helps in the transmission of signals in the brain and other vital areas. A shortage of dopamine will cause an indecisive and frozen personality. Furthermore, studies have found that people with a long D4DR gene have low responses to dopamine and tend to take a more adventurous approach to life to achieve the same “buzz’ which short D4DR genes obtain from simple life experiences.

There is another chemical found in the brain which acts on personality which is serotonin. Serotonin is the chemical that makes you feel good. Curiously, melatonin is made from serotonin. Melatonin is the chemical that induces sleep. That is why people tend to get sleepy in winter evenings early. The darkness triggers serotonin to be turned into melatonin. The way to reverse this is to introduce insulin, which retards melatonin, by eating a carbohydrate snack.

An interesting fact was pointed out. The fact indicates that impulsive, anti-social and depressed people have generally lower levels of cholesterol than the populace in general. It appears that cholesterol promotes serotonin build up.

Chromosome 15 is responsible for your sex determination. Males have an XY chromosome pair while Females have an XX pair. The father’s sex chromosomes determine the sex of a child. If the father passes his Y chromosome then the baby will be a boy. If he passes his X chromosome then the baby will be a girl. What scientists discovered was that the spare X chromosome of the man contains a switch that when turned on enhances development and produces a normal baby. Failure of the switch to activate may explain dyslexia, autism and language problems. This explains why these diseases are more common in boys than girls.

If you need proof that boys and girls are different from the very beginning it lies in this chapter and it lists an unusual and cruel Canadian experiment to help prove this point.

It is also apparently clear that science is on track to cure most cancers. It has discovered that a gene called oncogenes encourage cells to grow. Cancer is nothing more than uncontrolled cell multiplication. Oncogenes are vital to life however because they heal wounds. If they become jammed Oncogenes will cause cells to reproduce unmolested and thus cause cancer. The body though protects us from an overactive Oncogene with Tumour suppressors. These tomour suppressors are working all the time. However, if they are damaged cancer will thrive. TP53 is the most powerful tumour suppressor. It dismantles unneeded cells from the inside out eliminating them in the process.

The body also has another protection mechanism know as Apoptosis. Apoptosis are cells which detect infectious diseases and proceed to kill the infected cells.

The book’s final chapters are an interesting combination of science and ethics dealing with eugenics and Free will.

Even though this was written and published over 15 years ago, I found it relevant and revealing. Ridley is one of the better science writers, and this is assuredly his master work. Each chapter highlights a specific gene found on each of the 23 pairs of chromosomes. He repeatedly states that the book is not about disease, but it ultimately becomes a major theme and topic. The final chapters that discuss genetic determinism, eugenics, and nature vs nurture are treated with upmost care, empathy, and altogether brilliant writing. Ridley expresses his views by not expressing his views. How rare is that for a science writer? If he has a bias, it’s hard to tell here. Highly recommended and thoroughly engaging read.

I was sad to hear Ridley tossing out the panderous line "... religious people might find this a useful argument - that there was only one creation ..." The skeptical reader will keep a sharp eye out for such apologetic nonsense.

Ridley admittedly avoids using technical terminology.
He opts for silly substitutions like "spelling difference" in place of "mutation".
It's really offensive to any reader having completed High School.

Ridley inexcusably uses the derisive term "missing link" to refer to the most recent common ancestor of both Humans and Chimpanzees!

There is a startling contradiction in the book:
Shortly after arguing that a Human is 98% Chimpanzee, Ridley states that a fertilized Chimp egg cell brought to term by a Human mother would not look "even part human".
Really, both of these claims are silly.
The words "Human" and "Chimpanzee" are both labels.
I am 100% Human, and 0% Chimpanzee.
Certainly, a Chimp does look "part human" in an emotional sense, because of phenotypic similarities.

Number of times the author uses the term Mind Boggling: 7
Shockingly, Ridley equates aborting Down Syndrome fetuses with the practice of Eugenics! He goes on to argue that "it wasn't the science that was wrong with Eugenics ..."; instead he blames it's failure on the infringement on "personal liberty". This is backwards. The real tragedy is that people were sterilized based on POOR SCIENCE! If the murderous psychopath could be identified as a week old blastocyst, it would be WILDLY irresponsible not to abort and try again! I think nobody has the right to bring a child into the world with the knowledge that it would lead a short life crippled by disease. Personal liberty doesn't extend into causing immense suffering in others.

The last chapter on free will is philosophically tepid and scientifically rancid. Herein comes the most shocking assertion yet: that abused children who grow up to abuse their own children do so as a result of heritable variation! This flies in the face of common sense and all studies I've ever read. Males abused at a young age recreate their abuse with the tables turned. It seems Ridley has never listened to an episode of Loveline.

Here’s something I never thought I’d say about someone who wrote a science book: this author has an awesome personality. Well-read, witty, and—from what I can tell—a true ball-knower when it comes to science, Ridley makes this a fun read. I learned a lot, even if I’m sure to forget it all in the next few weeks. If only I had faced fewer developmental stressors while in my mother’s womb. Maybe then my IQ would be worthy of Ridley’s work!

Great discussions on nature vs. nurture and the atrocities of eugenics. Certainly out of date as our knowledge of genetics has increased greatly since the 90s. Still, a great primer on arguably the greatest scientific discovery of the 20th century, the digital code for a human being.

And who doesn’t love Dolly, amirite?

First of all, although the book contains a lot of beneficial information about chromosomes, Matt Ridley is not an expert on this.

And secondly, remember that the purpose of this book is to be popular and sell a lot (What a wonderful coincidence that Ridley was once an editor at The Economist).

And thirdly, there is some incorrect information in the book. The father of eugenics is not Francis Galton, but Socrates. You can see it from Plato’s book named The Republic. Fortunately, the number of such incorrect information is not much in Ridley’s book.

And fourthly, there is manipulation in this book, as in every mainstream media, mainstream movie, mainstream literature. That is not the case at the beginning of the book. However, towards the end, the manipulations become apparent. Although Ridley considers the title “Cures” appropriate for the 18th chromosome, the object of the topic is not about cures. For this episode, he mentions more about genetically modified products and tries to legitimize them: “The opposition to genetically modified crops, motivated more by hatred of new technology than love of the environment, largely chooses to ignore the fact that tens of thousands of safety trials have been done with no nasty surprises…” You can easily access scientific researches and articles on the carcinogenic substances contained in these products on the internet.

The whole time I was reading this book, I kept wondering what else they'd discovered about the human genome since publciation/my reading of it, and realized how out of date it probably was, and I read the hardcover edtion, but what's there is fascinating.

هي المرة الأولى التي أقرأ فيها كتاب علمي.
تعرفت على معلومات أدركت بها مدى اضمحلال علمي حول الجينات و العديد من الأمراض التي سببها حدوث طفرات بجينات معينة
كمتلازمة داون
هنتنجتون
السرطان
الضعف اللغوي
ألزهايمر
و العديد غيرها على الرغم من إصرار الكاتب على تكرار عبارة "الجينات لم توجد لتسبب الأمراض".
بالإضافة إلى مواضيع كالبصمة الوراثية و استخداماتها في مجال التحقيقات، اليوجينيا، الذكاء، الذاكرة و فصائل الدم.
كأن طابع الإنتخاب الطبيعي و التطور طاغٍ على الكتاب.
فيما يخص أسلوب الكتاب فلم يروقني التشتت في بعض فصول الكتاب، كان بإمكان الكاتب أن يختصر العديد من الفقرات أو أن يرتبها بشكل يسهل على القارئ الربط بين الفقرات.
و لهذا السبب قضيت أغلب وقتي برفقة الكتاب و شبكة الإنترنت معاً كي ابحث عن أغلب المعلومات الواردة بالكتاب، و هذا يعود لأسلوب الكتابة لا لقلة قدرتي على الاستيعاب، فمقال قصير أو مقطع فيديو كان كفيل بفهم الموضوع جيداً.
لكن الخيبة حين لا تجد محتوى عربي علمي بحت يخص الموضوع.

في الختام كانت تجربة ممتعة برفقة العلم:).

#الجينوم