The Gene: An Intimate History

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee // 592 pgs

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Spanning the globe and several centuries, The Gene is the story of the quest to decipher the master-code that makes and defines humans, that governs our form and function.

The story of the gene begins in an obscure Augustinian abbey in Moravia in 1856 where a monk stumbles on the idea of a ‘unit of heredity’. It intersects with Darwin’s theory of evolution, and collides with the horrors of Nazi eugenics in the 1940s. The gene transforms post-war biology. It reorganizes our understanding of sexuality, temperament, choice and free will. This is a story driven by human ingenuity and obsessive minds – from Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel to Francis Crick, James Watson and Rosalind Franklin, and the thousands of scientists still working to understand the code of codes.

This is an epic, moving history of a scientific idea coming to life, by the author of The Emperor of All Maladies. But woven through The Gene, like a red line, is also an intimate history – the story of Mukherjee’s own family and its recurring pattern of mental illness, reminding us that genetics is vitally relevant to everyday lives. These concerns reverberate even more urgently today as we learn to “read” and “write” the human genome – unleashing the potential to change the fates and identities of our children.

Majestic in its ambition, and unflinching in its honesty, The Gene gives us a definitive account of the fundamental unit of heredity – and a vision of both humanity’s past and future.

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I listened to this via audiobook and man was I enraptured. I have a personal interest in genes and genetics, and this was just a fascinating look into the history of genetics and its development over the centuries. The personal anecdotes of Mukherjee and his family history with genetic diseases added to some of the clinical nature of some of the stories. I loved the tackling of how culture and science interconnected with each discovery made; sometimes emboldening new discoveries and other times stifling it. This book discusses genetics, sexism, gender identity, and racism in an interesting way, and I love the conclusion that speaks to unity and acceptance rather than fear and hatred over our minor perceived differences. I cannot recommend this book enough, and I’m very glad I picked it up.

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture

The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness, and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Mate and Daniel Mate // 576 pgs

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In this revolutionary book, renowned physician Gabor Maté eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their healthcare systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. Nearly 70 percent of Americans are on at least one prescription drug; more than half take two. In Canada, every fifth person has high blood pressure. In Europe, hypertension is diagnosed in more than 30 percent of the population. And everywhere, adolescent mental illness is on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health?

Over four decades of clinical experience, Maté has come to recognize the prevailing understanding of “normal” as false, neglecting the roles that trauma and stress, and the pressures of modern-day living, exert on our bodies and our minds at the expense of good health. For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. Now Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society—and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. Co-written with his son Daniel, The Myth of Normal is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.

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I listened to this via audiobook and enjoyed it a lot! I loved the introspective nature of it. There's a lot to this and while it was a joy to listen to, I wish I had a physical copy. It's one of the very few books that I think I'd enjoy annotating, and regret not taking any notes to refer back to later. I don't think it's necessarily groundbreaking, but the way Mate weaved his thoughts together was highly engaging.

Fauci: Expect the Unexpected by Anthony Fauci and National Geographic Society (Editor)

Fauci: Expect the Unexpected by Dr. Anthony Fauci and National Geographic Society (Editor)-96 pages

Ten Lessons are presented here from interviews with Fauci featured in a documentary on National Geographic. Fauci gives much great advice in these pages. For instance, he encourages perseverance, tolerance, and service for the greater good, among other things. He has spent decades working with and treating infectious diseases, even though he was scoffed at in the beginning. His colleagues thought that infectious diseases was a dying field. How wrong they were! Dr. Fauci discusses empathizing above all. He tells a story about his mom reading a newspaper article about the U.S. dropping the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His mom got emotional over the lives lost even though Japan was an enemy and that stuck with Dr. Fauci. To this day, he tries to empathize above all. I like Dr. Fauci's attitude of service. He seems like a genuine and sincere person who is doing his best to serve the country (and the world). I have gained more respect for him as a result of reading this short book. It seems that he has been unjustly vilified and mocked by some in this country, especially certain media. He is simply trying his best to do his job. I hope more people read this book. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, 370 pages

All I knew of this book is that it was a bestseller and on a bunch of book club lists for awhile.  What I found out was that Henrietta Lacks was a poor, African-American woman who had cancer.  When "treated" at Johns Hopkins, some of her cells were removed for testing, and they proved to be key to several medical breakthroughs.  All of this was done without Henrietta or her family's knowledge, and really brings to light a great deal of questions about medical ethics and cell 'ownership.'  It was a pretty sad story- after all, even though her cells are currently sold to science all over the world, and helped cure polio and led to cancer breakthroughs, Henrietta lies in an unmarked grave and her descendants live in poverty.  There is a great deal of science in this book, as well as occasionally maddening interviews, but non-fiction readers and fans of human interest stories might find this worthwhile.