authors:
- Mukherjee, Siddhartha
content: 'Mukherjee writes well and engagingly about a number of stories involving
  the development of genetics and its impact. However, I do not quite trust him as
  a historian of ideas; his accounts of some developments are a bit too neat.

  His account of gene regulation and epigenetics is flawed. He seems to believe that
  regulation by transcription factors is transient only, and so does not explain why
  cells become "locked into" their respective developmental fates. This is wrong.
  Epigenetics, i.e. DNA methylation and histone modification, is not nearly as essential
  as Mukherjee makes it out to be.

  He brings out some important ethical issues, but does not have a very well organized
  approach, so the discussion leaves the reader hanging. The 3 stars are 3+.'
date: '2016-07-25'
edition:
  published: '2017'
  publisher: Scribner
goodreads: '28780555'
html: '<p>Mukherjee writes well and engagingly about a number of stories involving
  the development of genetics and its impact. However, I do not quite trust him as
  a historian of ideas; his accounts of some developments are a bit too neat.

  His account of gene regulation and epigenetics is flawed. He seems to believe that
  regulation by transcription factors is transient only, and so does not explain why
  cells become &quot;locked into&quot; their respective developmental fates. This
  is wrong. Epigenetics, i.e. DNA methylation and histone modification, is not nearly
  as essential as Mukherjee makes it out to be.

  He brings out some important ethical issues, but does not have a very well organized
  approach, so the discussion leaves the reader hanging. The 3 stars are 3+.</p>

  '
isbn: '9781501150128'
language: en
lastmod: '2016-07-25'
path: /library/mukherjee-2016.html
published: '2016'
rating: 3
reference: Mukherjee 2016
reviewed: '2016-07-25'
subjects:
- biomedicine
- science
title: 'The Gene: An Intimate History'
type: book
year: 2016