The Gene: An Intimate History Paperback – 2 May 2017

I finished reading ‘The Gene’ by Siddhartha Mukherjee last month. It has been a fascinating voyage in the world of biology- genetics to be precise. As I wrote before too, it has been written with great erudition and is richly laced with metaphor and similes to make it comprehensible even for a non-biologist. It staggers my mind to think how must an ocean of research material have been mined for it, grasped, and then put to masterly use by the doctor-writer. Only a man of SM’s calibre who gave us a wonderful book on cancer ‘The emperor of all maladies’ before, could have done it. The gene book tells us in gripping detail the whole story of the gene right from early meanderings before the Christian era by the Greek Philosophers like Pythagoras (530 BC), Anaxagoras (400 BC), Aristotle (350 BC) and many others to unravel the mystery of inheritance. (Incidentally, Anaxagoras thought that the essence of heredity was carried by the male sperm, while the female only “shaped’ male semen in the womb to produce the foetus! And Aristotle argued that hereditary information is transmitted in the form of messages.) Nothing is in fact left out by the author in this long journey of man’s search for answers to the intriguing gene puzzle: Mendel’s experiments on pea to unravel the mystery of inheritance of characters, Darwin’s great voyage, how Watson and Crick cracked the DNA code, the human genome, how the new findings have helped mankind in understanding and curing genetic disorders by gene therapy, gene edting and gene surgery and the future scenario in regard to genomics and humankind. A lot has been done but a lot more still needs to be discovered. So many tricky genetic ailments such as Haemophilia, sickle cell anaemia etc which have afflicted mankind causing huge suffering, are now being cured thanks to new insights into the subtle working of the gene. Many more are on the threshold of being tamed and treated through gene therapy. The quest is on. Needless to say, the coming decades will see man (or a geneticist) playing God with gene editing and cloning technologies in his kitty. It will be for the humankind though to see and decide where to draw the line.What makes the book so outstanding is the interesting manner and the arresting narrative with which the whole story of the gene is laid bare before the mesmerized reader with fascinating details about the personal lives of Mendel, Darwin and all other luminaries who have been involved in their scientific endeavours in unravelling the mystery of the gene right from the beginning till date, their obsessions, devotion, dedication, foibles, failures, jealousies, the politics and so on.Having been a zoologist myself – though not a great one! – I could strike an instant chord with the book and had it fill many gaping voids in my understanding of the gene.Subhash Sharma, Palampur, Kangra HP

I liked the book-The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Being a former teacher of Human Anatomy including Genetics, I am aware of the vastness of the subject and its branches but this book covers all the important aspects in less than 600 pages. The book has been divided into Parts and in each Part, there are several chapters; this makes convenient reading. All the parts and chapters have been thought provokingly titled.The author has meticulously avoided technical terms as the book is intended to be for the lay readers. If you are interested in the development and evolution of the subject, this is a book for you; it makes interesting reading. The author’s background has lent authenticity to the contents. He has tried to give justice to every character who contributed significantly: Aristotle, Darwin, Mendel, Morgan, Bateson, Johannsen, Galton, Garrod, Beadle and Tatum, Jacob and Monod, Watson and Crick, Khorana, McKusick, Sanger, Berg, Venter, Gurdon and Yamanaka; it is actually ‘Who is who’ of Genetics. Some new terms like previvors have been introduced and Human Genome project has been discussed in details.The narrative is so detailed and vivid that we feel that the author was personally present when and where the history (and the future) happened! I enjoyed reading accounts pertaining to Eugenics, BRCA1, Indian counter part of Nazism, sexual identity, Gay gene etc. I tend to agree with the author’s prediction- “The discontinuity of genes-the discreteness and autonomy of each individual unit of heredity-will turn out to be an illusion: genes may yet be more interconnected than we think.” That would be the end of the prevalent reductionist view of the word-Gene.A clinician is mainly concerned with what can be applied on patients in the clinic. In spite of the tremendous strides that Genetics has taken in recent years, there is not much that can be offered to the needy patients as far as the curative treatment is concerned; this is particularly true for the mental ailments (the author with several members of his family suffering from such disorders knows about this more intimately than anyone else) and the cancers. Some of the advancements are rightly facing political, social and ethical hurdles. If researches on the stem cell and gene therapy are approved wholeheartedly in due course of time, we may see more practically beneficial genetics which not only satisfy curiosity but also cures. Human Genome project has been rightly proved to be just the beginning in this direction; we are now eagerly awaiting the outcomes of Human Epigenome project and Encode. This is a book that broadens your vision whatever your background may be.

Not written from a medical viewpoint alone. That tends to put off some people including doctors (I am one). Covers a lot of interesting ground in history - the american eugenics program and the German T4. The pre-war ideological problem the soviet communists had with modern genetics and its consequences - very interesting. Got little bogged down in the Human genome project. The author`s attempts to intertwine the story with the story of mental illness in his own family feels little strained at times. A valiant attempt all the same. Great writing and research. Dr Mukherjee explains complex ideas very `patiently` in simple words. Must come from his experience in teaching medical students at the bedside. IMO medical students and subsequently doctors are simple minded ! Does not soar like the Emperor however. But then a lot of ground past present future has already been covered by other writers and so Dr Mukherjee`s job is to put all that in one place with emphasis on the overall sociopolitical context and its relevance to clinical practice. Like he has said in an interview, this is one book he wanted off his chest. Good read. Will appeal to all those popular science fans, doctors, biologist and anyone interested in science and history of the 20th century. Shouldn't let the Emperor of all maladies to cloud your assessment of this book !

From origin of species to the fundamental breakthroughs by Mendel, from gene as an abstract idea to the discovery of the structure of DNA, from horrifying episodes of eugenics to the technological marvel of modern day genetics, this book gives us both historical and scientific perspective that is thoroughly enjoyable and enlightening. And his command over the language is as inspiring as the journey he narrates.