Abridged Audiobook
I'm not sure I'll believe a mass media scientific press release ever again. When Ventnor says "we've mapped the genome" - there's some fudging of the definition of mapped going on. Very interesting insight into the politics of the science community. Find out who the real heroes are.
I found this book VERY BORING! It goes in depth into the science of mapping the human genome. No one is likeable and the reader was monotone (who wouldn't be with this boring stuff?). After all this I just felt like , "Who cares." I hated it.
Fast paced and engaging, The Genome War is a picture of dueling egos and the struggle between capitalism vs academia--all against a backdrop of life-saving science. It is written from the perspective of Craig Venter, the entrepreneurial biologist. While he is not painted as a perfect guy, I would rather James Shreeve had balanced his story by saying more about the public advantages of Venter losing the race--ie., keeping the genome patents and discoveries cleanly and completely in the public domain. Even so, the book's well worth a listen.
At times this account of the race to finish the human genome project was very dry, and it was very scientific. But the technology and the story were fascinating. It was, at times, difficult to comprehend during my very early morning commute.
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