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Author: J.Craig Venter ISBN : Product Detai New from Format: PDF
Download medical books file now PRETITLE A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life [Kindle Edition] POSTTITLE from mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link The triumphant memoir of the man behind one of the greatest feats in scientific history Author: J.Craig Venter ISBN : Product Detai New from Format: PDFOf 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 genome?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.
Direct download links available for PRETITLE A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life POSTTITLE
- File Size: 736 KB
- Print Length: 428 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0670063584
- Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (October 18, 2007)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B000W969BI
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,536 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Genetic
- #13 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Genetic
- #29 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
- #6 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Disorders & Diseases > Genetic
- #13 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Diseases & Physical Ailments > Genetic
- #29 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Genetics
A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life PDF
Having read The Genome War, I had preordered Venter's own story. I was not disappointed. The Publisher's Weekly review sniffs that it is "clumsily written." I would attribute that opinion to one of two possibilities. Either the reviewer never got beyond the early chapters about his childhood, which are marred by cliche and some amateurish prose, or the reviewer does not know enough biology to understand the rest. Once past the early biography, the rest of the book is riveting. I would warn those considering it that a reasonable knowledge of biology and genetics is almost a requirement to enjoy the story. I teach medical students and have studied molecular biology (unknown when I was a medical student) and it taxed my knowledge to the limit to understand his accomplishments. Still, the book reminds me a bit of "Science Fictions," the account of the discovery of the AIDS virus, which pulled no punches in naming villains and fakers. Venter is settling a few scores but, having read the other book, I am inclined to accept his version of the story. Biology research is not beanbag, to paraphase an old aphorism, especially when the stakes are high. There are titanic egos in this story, not just that of the author. If you like biology and genetics and want to read about the biggest big game hunt in biological science history, this is a good place to start.
The best part of the story begins as he returns from Vietnam, a near failure in high school, now stimulated by his experiences as a corpsman to study and go to medical school. He has married a New Zealand girl he met on R&R in Australia. They both go to UCSD once they have mastered junior college. Here he becomes interested in biochemistry, then cell biology.
Knowing Craig and having had worked at Celera, I was eager to learn more of the details of Craig's early career which I knew only in general strokes. However, also knowing Craig, I was also inclined to take his portrayal with a grain of salt. In this spirit, I would strongly recommend this book as a gripping tale of remarkable success, intrigue, and adventure, as told through the eyes of one of the greatest egomaniacs ever.
The book does wander a bit through Craig's earliest years and the strongest material coincides with the formation of TIGR, Celera, and the JCVI. I can vouch for many of the stories and perspectives from the Celera years, having heard, directly or indirectly, of the events at the time. The interludes about Craig's genome are fascinating, and the science is presented with enough explanation and metaphor that it should be easy to grasp for the non-expert.
However, as much as Craig "sets the record straight", or grinds axes depending on your perspective, his ego tinges the entire book and regrettably diminishes its credibility. It's simply hard to believe a man, who in his own account, was always right, never showed a shred of self-doubt, and never made a mistake beyond trusting the incompetents and villains surrounding him.
Craig also spends his time railing against commercial science and business people, claiming that he never had any aspirations to make money---although he made plenty---and feuded constantly with those that did. Although this seems superficially noble, it does make we wonder at his motives to request tens and hundreds of millions of dollars from venture capitalists if he truly never intended to repay those investments.
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