Genome

The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

By: Matt Ridley

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

The genome's been mapped. But what does it mean?

Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the 23 pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers - questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.

Genome offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine.

From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.

©1999 Matt Ridley (P)2011 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Among many recent books on genes, behavior and evolution, Ridley's is one of the most informative. It's also the most fun to read." ( Publishers Weekly)

loved it

Great book on the genes. narration is important. It was great ridley books. The way it was told was awesome

Nice genome overview

While it doesn't necessarily break new ground when it comes to recent discoveries about our genome, Ridley does a good job of exploring the implications of some of the most valued discoveries about our genome.

Very interesting

While a bit of the information is out of date now, it is still an extremely interesting and well written book.

The reader is hard to understand

The book itself is great and filled with very enlightening information. It is a shame that the person who is reading it sometimes seems like he is just reading to himself. Very often he will drop to a very quiet murmur and you will miss entire words and sometimes freezes and have to rewind and turn the volume up then back to normal. He pronounced words strangely and it took me a minute to understand what he was saying. His tone is very dry and emotionless.

Better Notion of Ourselves & those Around Us

Most blessed & grateful to recognise the only constant in our genes is change.

Good to know stuff

All humans should understand how genes work. First of all it is interesting. Second, and more important, is that this knowledge replaces myths and superstitions in a thinking brain.
Well written and read. Would no good if the book was difficult to understand!

Very enjoyable listen to boot!

Almost masterful

Dealing with a complex subject, filled with chemical structures & names, this book could have been mind-boggling. However the author and reader break down the subject-matter with clear references, humor & chatty dialogue . Walking through the chromosomes one-by-one with a reference to time, ethics, determinism, etc. makes listening to this book both enjoyable and understandable. Well done.

great book. loved the insights and details

great book with lots of details and insights. nicely put together in coherent and well organized contents

Great book, hard audio to follow

This book is really eye opening for the avg non-science type!
Each reader will find different chromosomes stories interesting.
To get the most out of this I need the print/kindle version. The information is really dense at points and he references previous chapters so flipping back and forth would be helpful.
That said, the audio was still great to get an over all understanding of how out DNA works or in some cases doesn't work.
The biggest take away is how much of our DNA code is useless, if it's a blueprint, it has a lot of repeat pages and blank pages. Whoa!

A must read to understand self, and determinism

Ridley has pointed out key points about the specificity and evolution of each chromosome and how they are affecting us, our decisions and life in general.

This book is a must read for anyone who is interested in human history from biological context not just stories written or told by other humans.