John's Blog

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.