I’ve been getting more interested in biotech lately — realized that there are lots of things happening in the world that have a high potential to affect my life (and my wife’s & son’s) that I know pretty close to nothing about. I almost didn’t read this book because the title was so lousy — but that would have been a shame, because it was a really interesting read.
The beginning is a basic overview of biotech, then the author launches into a series of profiles of the most important people in biotech to date — he likens each to an archetypal figure:
- Douglas Melton — Prometheus
- Cynthia Kenyon — Eve
- Francis Collins — Paul
- Craig Venter — Faustus
- James Watson — Zeus
- Sydney Brenner — Puck
- Paul Berg — Moses
Additionally, he talks throughout the book about the ethical questions of particular types of biotech.
Very intersting & provocative book, and used short words for biology that a software nerd like me can understand.
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