When a gene makes you smell like a fish. And other tales about the genes in your body
When a gene makes you smell like a fish. And other tales about the genes in your body
Lisa Seachrist Chiu
Oxford, UK; Oxford University Press | 2006 | 219 pp | ?15.99 (HB) | ISBN 0195169948
Reviewed by Clare Boothby
Genes that make you smell like a fish, look like a werewolf, grow huge muscles or despise broccoli... Lisa Seachrist Chiu sets out to illustrate the fascinating science of genetics and heredity. The book draws heavily on medical case studies, isolated communities and historical figures to demonstrate the consequences of genetic mutations in humans and to explain why patterns of inheritance are often much more complex than Mendel’s peas.
Despite the handy genetics primer and extensive referencing, this is not a heavy-going book, more of a lightning tour of genetic freaks. By touching on so many interesting cases, Chiu only has space to briefly skim over most of them. Many questions are left unanswered: How do mutations cause the effects they do? How are cures found and how do they work? How do researchers identify the parts of the chromosomes responsible? On the other hand, the questions may make this the perfect book to set an inquisitive teenager off on their own exploration of genetics.
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