Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

Awesome content, but knocking it down a star because of the writing style. At some points the author made very detailed statements that assumed prior context that this reader, at least, did not have. Also, he had a tendency to anthropomorphize our genes, talking about their “wants” and “desires” which I found counter-productive to understanding how they operate.

Each chapter was about a different chromosome and some concept extracted by a gene on that chromosome. There wasn't an overall story, but I found each chapter had fascinating facts about the impact of those genes. The history of the discoverers of these fascinating gene's was eye opening. Eor example, the doctor who exposed his skin to radiation so they could test if a protein responded to genetic damage as research for cancer treatments and the team that went to a remote island to get blood test from all 300 people on an island to help isolate a gene. While its 15 yrs old and probably dated, the history aspect is worth it.