This list is curated from 6 mentions and sorted by most mentioned, then by date of most recent mention. The more a book is mentioned, the more likely it's recommended and a favorite!
This list is curated from 6 mentions and sorted by most mentioned, then by date of most recent mention. The more a book is mentioned, the more likely it's recommended and a favorite!
More recently, I’ve gained a lot from reading a diverse set of books and authors including Under a White Sky by Elizabeth Kolbert, On Immunity by Eula Biss, The Gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee, and Eradication by Nancy Stepan.View all 3 sources
This book offers a comprehensive and engaging overview of genetics. It includes the history of the field, anecdotes of its development, a well-paced technical explanation of the high level aspects, and quite a lot of discussion on the associated moral dilemmas that we are faced with as we understand how we can use this technology to change our own species. Unfortunately, the book does not delve into some of the aspects of modern genetics that I find most interesting, such as gene drive. These are discussed near the very end almost as an afterthought, and are hardly given enough focus. Similarly, epigenetics is only briefly touched on. Lastly, the book is very human-centric and does not discover genetics in a broader context of evolution in animals (e.g. selfish genes), which I find fascinating. Overall, this will likely become my default recommendation for the reference Genetics book for a general interested reader who is mostly interested in the history of genetics, who enjoys thinking about the ethics of genetics in humans, and who wants to get a good high-level overview of the technical aspects. 4/5 4/5View source
Your next read--"The Gene" by Sid Mukherjee. Another masterpiece along the lines of "Emperor of all Maladies" Great nuance and history.View source
