Genome
The genome's been mapped. But what does it mean? Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three 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.
Stats for nerds
7recommend
13mentions
12people
2009–2024years
54% recommend46% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I was astounded when I read Matt Ridley's book "Genome" at just how mechanical cellular life is. The nucleus, loaded with DNA, is functioning like a ready-programmed CNC machine, or robot, or other programmable piece of hardware that interacts with the physical or chemical world.
- There's a great passage about this in Genome by Matt Ridley, which is a great book for anyone interested. In mammals both the male and female gametes imprint their DNA in their sex cells to repress certain genes, if you combine two generic sequences from two males (with no modification) the zygote forms with no brain and too much placenta and dies soon after. If you do the reverse with females, you wind up with a oversized head and no placenta. The working theory is embryonic development is a competitive environment, where males want the best for their offspring at the expense of the female host, and the females 'fight' back by limiting the amount of resources the child has. it's only been recently we've had the technology to remove the epigenetic markers from DNA sequences to allow combinations of same sex strands.
- Not finished yet. Genome- Matt Ridley. The guy knows how to take a "dry" subject and spin a nice story around the central subject. Was recommended by Naval Ravikant on the Shane Parrish's Knowledge Project podcast. Makes even more sense to me now that I actually work for a NGS company.
- The question whether altruism exists is, i think, beyond the scope of this discussion. Whether my parents loved me is also not relevant, although I can assure you that they gave me things out of love and ostensibly altruistically.
With friends, I think, most people will agree there is reciprocity if not with money but with something else like company.
With children, it is harder to argue without introducing other concepts, but I argue that it is not altruistic and has gene reproduction as the final goal.
If you haven't heard this argument before, you can look into "Genome" by Matt Ridley for a colorful explanation.
- The book mentioned, "Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters", is a phenomenal book for those interested in the space http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060894083/farnamstre...
- Genome by Matt Ridley.
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