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A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life
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Item Description...
Overview
A leading genomic research scientist traces his lackluster education and military service in Vietnam before discovering his interest in scientific pursuits, his early achievements at the National Institutes of Health, and his sequencing of the first genome.
Publishers Description
The triumphant memoir of the man behind one of the greatest feats in scientific history
Of all the scientific achievements of the past century, perhaps none can match the deciphering of the human genetic code, both for its technical brilliance and for its implications for our future. In A Life Decoded, J. Craig Venter traces his rise from an uninspired student to one of the most fascinating and controversial figures in science today. Here, Venter relates the unparalleled drama of the quest to decode the human genomeA-a goal he predicted he could achieve years earlier and more cheaply than the government-sponsored Human Genome Project, and one that he fulfilled in 2001. A thrilling story of detection, A Life Decoded is also a revealing, and often troubling, look at how science is practiced today. |
Item Specifications...
Pages 390
Dimensions: Length: 0.75" Width: 5.5" Height: 8.5"
Weight: 0.85 lbs.
Binding Softcover
Release Date Sep 30, 2008
ISBN 0143114182
EAN 9780143114185
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Availability 0 units.
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Reviews - What do our customers think?
 | Debugging the Code Feb 2, 2010 |
If one were to choose a perfect specimen of the old-fashioned American can-do rugged individual one has to look no further than the author, Craig Venter. "Only in America" (as the saying goes) was such a gigantic undertaking possible. It required not only an entrepreneurial setting and an educated cadre of experts but also the drivers of the modern age: Capitalism and Science. The two are eerily similar with their redundancy, messiness, elements of greed, enormous failures and astounding successes. They have revolutionized the world and if Venter is correct, this influence will only grow stronger.
Some have commented in great length on the ego within these pages. What they do not acknowledge is that a quiet, compromising, timid man could not have accomplished what he did. Venter was a tinkerer even as a boy, someone with strong opinions, drive, likes and dislikes. The path from troubled teen to doctor and scientist was dwarfed by the HGP (Human Genome Project). The veil was ripped from our fantasy world of peaceful scientists working solely for the good of mankind. Politics reared its ugly head and one can say that the goal was accomplished despite - certainly not because - of the powers that wannabe in D.C. The funding system wherein annual grants must be justified ("spend it or lose it") was at the heart of the majority of disputes. The lack of incentive to trim, economize and develop more economical solutions does not exist in the land of federal grants.
Venter does a good job of scientific explication for the "educated layman" but one has to wonder how many of the humongous words and dense commentaries were given the once over. Diagrams explaining some of the terms would have been helpful. The shaded explanations of his own DNA were interesting and though he holds a materialistic view of life, he is not a genetic determinist in the style of Dawkins and Company. He believes that we and our social constructs (religion, family, education, science, philosophy) are more than the pre-determined product of a collection of chemical reactions. Despite his many detractors, Venter continues practicing cutting edge beneficial science, especially in a quest for synthetic life forms that would provide pollution-free energy, power and food.
The reader is left wondering about his last project, the creation of a synthetic life genome with a couple of thousand base pairs. In 2008, his institute announced that the bacterium Mycoplasma genitalium with over half a million base pairs had been created and this was only the beginning. My Grade - A | | |  | The Unreasonable Man; or "what's all this bio-babble?" Jan 31, 2010 |
| This autobiography is at times (a) demonstration of G.B.Shaw's adage that "The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man.", (b) morality tale on why monopolies (government bureaucracies) are bad even if well-intentioned, (c) gripping first-hand accounts of deftly sidestepping Naval bureaucracy and surviving despair in Vietnam, and (d) proof of my thesis advisor's adage that "research is a social enterprise". With high doses of more bio-babble than I could or would grasp sometimes. | | | | mind blowing science Jan 7, 2010 |
| I found the book in a secondhand book store after christmas and took a gamble as my holiday read. I knew of the author's monumental human genome work (being a scientist myself) and only very vaguely what else he had done in his career It was well worth the money. Two days on I had experienced one hellishly good thrill ride. So what if the author can do no wrong in his opinion. I loved it; a bit of war time experience saving lives (it felt like you were there), a bit of sailing (gripping sailor yarns), a huge heap of mind blowing science and few stabs at folks - what more could you want. I finished wanting more and all that was missing was a few nobel prizes. As I told my wife "Do I want to be like Craig?" No, but I do want to strive to achieve more. The author has lived many lives and they all have been incredibly interesting and inspiring. Anyone that is willing to bare his own genes and more deserves kudos. This book inspired me to read other perspectives too. Another secondhand book store this past weekend yielded a signed Harold Varmus autobio and I have to say its starting slow. Can it surpass A LIFE DECODED? | | | | Craig told me about his book, so I had to read it! Nov 11, 2009 |
I was relaxing on my boat after a day of sailing, enjoying a beer, while I watched this bald guy park his big power boat in the marina slip next to mine. He looked like the new guy in the marina, so I called out "looks like moving day!" He said it was, so I walked over and introduced myself. He told me his name was Craig, and as I did a double-take, I asked him if he was Craig Ventner. He politely corrected me and said "Venter." Wow! I told him how my wife and I saw the Discovery show "Decoding the Oceans", and asked him where Sorcerer II was, and he told me she was on a new expedition. There I was having a neighborly conversation with my new neighbor - a real live superstar! (I'm an engineer, sort of a nerd, so to me Craig is a superstar). I'm also a CEO and I enjoy reading about successful people. Armand Hammer, Chuck Yeager, Lee whatshisname, The Donald's "Art of the Deal", so I was intrigued when Craig suggested that I read his book "Decoding Life" to learn more about genomics. So, I did. Just finished it in fact. Couldn't put it down. Anyway, I left Craig to finish cleaning up his boat and went to pick up the pizza that I had ordered. On my way back, as I walked through the marina parking lot, what do I see?...a beautiful black Tesla roadster, and I immediately know who owns it. Back on the dock, as I walked past Craig, where he is sorting his dock lines, I ask "hey Craig, is that your Tesla up there in the parking lot?" Of course it's his. I knew it. He loves it, all electric hotrod, so fast it scares him, he says. So, naturally I offer to share my pizza with him, since its around dinner time now. Craig smiles and says the offer is tempting, but his wife is waiting at home for him, and we part. So, back on my boat, I'm so excited, I call my wife to tell her I just met Craig Venter, no Venter, not Ventner. As I'm talking to my wife I hear a knock on my boat, and guess who hands me a bottle of wine? Thanks Craig, I say, as I tell my wife Craig Venter just came by and offered me a bottle of wine he had left in the cooler on his boat.
Craig is one of us. He belongs to us. He is a National Treasure. Our brother that we share 99.5% of our DNA with, and he is of the most gifted human beings of our time. I'm thrilled and honored to have met him because its not every day you meet a guy like that with a mind so creative and flexible to be able to solve one of mankind's most complex puzzles, and yet be so thoughtful and warm a human being. Thanks Craig, I raise my glass and toast you, may your CETP gene help you live long and prosper!
B. Downing | | |  | Damned generation Nov 3, 2009 |
| You fools have no idea what you are doing when you rate this book highly. This is the guidebook to DNA patenting for universal enslavement, organ harvesting, stem cell harvesting, living weapons testing experiments. This man is your evil task master and he's so confident that you're stupid enough to love your enslavement that he publicly announces in a book how he's going to get away with it. Morons. You deserve your lot in what's coming. I do not pity you whatsoever. Suffer. | | | Write your own review about A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life
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