Genome

The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

By: Matt Ridley

Narrated by: Simon Prebble

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

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While a bit of the information is out of date now, it is still an extremely interesting and well written book.

A great concept badly organized

A highly interesting book that, for many parts, seems to lose sight of what's important. There are times where the author gives wonderful explanations of how the genome actually works...and there are moments where he goes off to explain random facts of human anthropology.

While I enjoyed most of the book, it seemed to me that in many parts of this book the author felt like he had to write a chapter without a clear idea of what he was trying to explain. The author seems a bit too interested in reading himself than thinking whether what he's writing is important to the main idea of the chapter (or book).

Still, I liked it a lot, and the parts that are interesting (like the last chapter) are worth the pain.

Absolutely packed with wall-to-wall information.

No filler Or fluff in this book just wall-to-wall information. Good narrator too. Hard to stop listening to though if I were tested after each chapter I probably wouldn’t remember anything but just while I’m listening it is fascinating to hear. I mean it’s just so hard to absorb and remember all this information at once but when you’re in the midst of listening to it, it is fascinating.

Good book

Learned many interesting things. I would recommend to anybody to listen this book. Very nice

Some chapters riveting, some aimless and boring.

Where does Genome rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

In the 60% range. I'm glad I listened to it but it's definitely not among the top books I've ever listened to.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

The concepts actually were pretty easy to follow. I appreciated it from that standpoint. It didn't get too scienc-y but some of the analogies I felt were actually more confusing than enlightening. Like, "DNA is digital." Well, it's not. Digital is 1s and 0s, DNA is chemical. Had he said "DNA is like digital information" it might have been different.

What does Simon Prebble bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Other than a british accent, not much.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

this would be a terrible title, but it's my synopsis: Choosing one gene or characteristic on each chromosome to tell something about that chromosome.

great prep book for bio lover

love the book. i learned how to describe the HUGO in English!!
recommend for biology lover

highly educational

Great breakdown of the biological questions that were never answered in classes at school.

thank you

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.