Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

Matt Ridley

Harper Collins, Oct 3, 2000 - Science - 344 pages

The genome's been mapped. But what does it mean?

Arguably the most significant scientific discoveru 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.

Contents

• Acknowledgements rii Foreword: 1
• Introduction: 4
• Life: 11
• Species: 23
• History: 38
• Fate: 54
• Environment: 65
• Intelligence: 76
• Instinct: 91
• XandY Conflict: 107
• Selfinterest: 122
• Disease: 136
• o Stress: 147
• Personality: 161
• SelfAssembly: 173
• PreHistory: 185
• Immortality: 195
• Sex: 206
• Memory: 219
• Death: 231
• is Cures: 243
• Prevention: 258
• 21 Politics: 271
• Eugenics: 286
• Free Will: 301
• Bibliography and Notes: 314
• Index: 337

About the author

Matt Ridley's books have sold over a million copies, been translated into 31 languages and won several awards. His books include The Red Queen, Genome, The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything. His book on How Innovation Works was published in 2020, and Viral: the Search for the Origin of Covid-19, co-authored with Alina Chan, was published in 2021. He sat in the House of Lords between 2013 and 2021 and served on the science and technology select committee and the artificial intelligence select committee. He was founding chairman of the International Centre for Life in Newcastle. He created the Mind and Matter column in the Wall Street Journal in 2010, and was a columnist for the Times 2013-2018. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and of the Academy of Medical Sciences, and a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He lives in Northumberland.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
• Author: Matt Ridley
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Harper Collins, 2000
• ISBN: 0060932902, 9780060932909
• Length: 344 pages
• Subjects: Science / Biotechnology; Science / Life Sciences / Developmental Biology; Science / Life Sciences / Evolution; Science / Life Sciences / Genetics & Genomics; Science / Life Sciences / Human Anatomy & Physiology