Genomes and What to Make of Them

Genomes and What to Make of Them
by Barry Barnes and John Dupré

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Chicago University Press; 1 edition (12 Dec 2008)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0226172953
ISBN-13: 978-0226172958


"Review
"What is novel about Genomes and What to Make of Them is the impressive scope of the project, which covers key issues around the politics of genomics in an accessible way, taking care to outline in clear language some very complex scientific arguments in a way that allows the authors to deconstruct various arguments about the risks and opportunities of genomics. I know of no other book that captures the social implications of genomics in quite such a comprehensive and accessible yet insightful manner." - Peter Robbins, Open University"


Description
The announcement in 2003 that the Human Genome Project had completed its map of the entire human genome was heralded as a stunning scientific breakthrough: our first full picture of the basic building blocks of human life. Since then, boasts about the benefits - and warnings of the dangers - of genomics have remained front-page news, with everyone agreeing that genomics has the potential to radically alter life as we know it.For the nonscientist, the claims and counterclaims are dizzying - what does it really mean to understand the genome? Barry Barnes and John Dupre offer an answer to that question and much more in "Genomes and What to Make of Them", a clear and lively account of the genomic revolution and its promise. The book opens with a brief history of the science of genetics and genomics, from Mendel to Watson and Crick and all the way up to Craig Venter; from there the authors delve into the use of genomics in determining evolutionary paths - and what it can tell us, for example, about how far we really have come from our ape ancestors.Barnes and Dupre then consider both the power and risks of genetics, from the economic potential of plant genomes to overblown claims that certain human genes can be directly tied to such traits as intelligence or homosexuality. Ultimately, the authors argue, we are now living with a new knowledge as powerful in its way as nuclear physics, and the stark choices that face us - between biological warfare and gene therapy, a new eugenics or a new agricultural revolution - will demand the full engagement of both scientists and citizens.Written in straightforward language but without denying the complexity of the issues, "Genomes and What to Make of Them" is an up-to-date primer and a blueprint for the future."


Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Genomes-What-Make-Barry-Barnes/dp/0226172953/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252406607&sr=1-1

What Genes Can't Do

What Genes Can't Do
by Lenny Moss


Paperback: 250 pages
Publisher: MIT Press; New edition edition (2 Mar 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0262632977
ISBN-13: 978-0262632973


"The idea of the gene has been a central organising theme in contemporary biology, and the Human Genome Project and biotechnological advances have put the gene in the media spotlight. In this book Lenny Moss reconstructs the history of the gene concept, placing it in the context of the perennial interplay between theories of preformationism and theories of epigenesis. He finds that there are not one, but two, fundamental - and fundamentally different - senses of "the gene" in scientific use: one the heir to preformationism and the other the heir to epigenesis. "Gene-P," the preformationist gene concept, serves as an instrumental predictor of phenotypic outcomes, whereas "Gene-D," the gene of epigenesis, is a developmental resource that specifies possible amino acid sequences for proteins. Moss argues that the popular idea that genes constitute blueprints for organisms is the result of an unwarranted conflation of these independently valid senses of the gene, and he analyses the rhetorical basis of this conflation. In the heart of the book, Moss uses the Gene-D/Gene-P distinction to examine the real basis of biological order and of the pathological loss of order in cancer."


Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Genes-Cant-Basic-Bioethics/dp/0262632977/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252405163&sr=1-4





from page 3:
" THE GENE (OR GENETIC PROGRAM) ENVISAGED AS CONTEXT-INDEPENDENT INFORMATION FOR HOW TO MAKE AN ORGANISM APPEARS TO HAVE BECOME THE NEW HEIR TO THE MAINSTREAM OF WESTERN METAPHYSICS" (capitals are mine)

About the gene: a seminal book

The Century of the Gene (Paperback)
by Evelyn Fox Keller


Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Harvard University Press; Reprint edition (2 April 2002)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0674008251
ISBN-13: 978-0674008250



We've been under the spell of DNA for too long. Science historian and MacArthur Fellow Evelyn Fox Keller makes the case for radically new thinking about the nature of heredity in The Century of the Gene. This short, magisterial treatise examines over 100 years of genetic thinking and finds outdated elements of Victorian beliefs still permeating our scientific writing today. Despite compelling evidence that cytoplasmic and other non-chromosomal factors play important roles in development and even in the inheritance of traits, most discussion still relies on the master/slave (or manager/worker) relationship between the nucleus and the cell. Keller wants to move on; her proximate goal is to proceed from talking about genes to talking about genetic talk, the better to understand our biases. Her excitement at developments such as the Human Genome Project, despite her initial doubts, is only heightened by the prospect of vast new stretches of uncharted intellectual territory. Ultimately, of course, her programme matches that of the scientific enterprise--to more fully understand ourselves and our world. What comes after The Century of the Gene? An excellent question, and one that can only be answered once we leave the past's baggage behind. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"The Century of the Gene", by Evelyn Fox Keller, not only provides an insightful overview of the role of a gene in the creation of an organism but also traces the history of our perception of the gene's role in that creation...Keller provides several concise figures that allow a person with minimal knowledge of molecular biology to understand the basics of what a gene is and how it functions within the body. This book also captures past and present thought from critical scientists and philosophers who have contributed to our current understanding of molecular biology...[The] overall outlook provides a new understanding of the dynamics of gene regulation and predicts that a new era in which we can understand how to control our own evolution is approaching. From a research perspective, we hope to be able to use this knowledge to help correct medical disorders. However, from a moral and religious perspective, many new boundaries are being crossed. Read this book. You will challenge yourself in trying to figure out what the future will be. -- Dr. John J. Nemunaitis "Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings"



Source: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0674008251/ref=sib_rdr_dp


I am grateful to my friend and distinguished colleague Prof. Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen, UK) who advised me about this book (and others - see other messages in this blog)