THE GENE: one reader’s reflection on a review of the history of genetics

Mukherjee, S. (2016). THE GENE: An Intimate History. New York, New York: Scribner.

While it’s been years since I’ve been in school or academia, I can’t help but feel nostalgic this time of year, when fall marks the beginning of a new year (and the return of the pumpkin spice latte, mmm!). Many of you are hunkering down in your courses, starting new projects (or trying to put a fresh look on an old one), writing grants, midterm papers, and exams, and mentoring new students – so the last thing any of you want to do is more reading. Nevertheless, I’m going to suggest a book that may not be on your syllabus.

I recently finished reading THE GENE: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee (author of The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer; physician and researcher at Columbia University), and I can’t imagine a more complementary book for those studying genetics in some way.

While reading THE GENE, I was constantly reminded of how much I didn’t know about genetics. I’m far from an expert in the field, but as someone who has taken genetics courses, taught students in biochemistry, worked in labs studying cancer genetics, and even edited a genetics textbook – I thought I knew a thing or two about genetics…. Turns out I only knew a thing or two.

Anyone who has taken genetics knows about Mendel and Darwin. Mendel and his peas are at the beginning of the textbook, where heredity and the concept of genes are introduced. Darwin and Origin of Species show up much later in the textbook, in the chapters on evolution and population genetics. For this reason alone (I may have been more of a “skimmer” of textbooks than I realized – please don’t judge), it never really dawned on me that Mendel and Darwin were not only contemporaries, but perfectly complementary:

In fact, Mukherjee made it near comedic how perfectly their research would fit together, if only they could meet and exchange ideas, like a never-answered “Missed Connection” on Craigslist. My favorite nugget:

Mukherjee helped me appreciate just how far we’ve come, and that we take a lot of things for granted. I’m not just talking about the obvious things like having access to the Human Genome Project data, being able to BLAST-search a DNA/RNA/protein sequence, or new CRISPR strategies for targeted DNA manipulation.

I’m talking about the “little” things that are so integral and basic for our work, that we don’t even give them a second thought.

Things like using PubMed to look up hundreds of articles on any given topic (sure there may be a pay-wall). Could you imagine having to wait months, or years, for someone to mail you a copy of a paper you didn’t know existed, trusting that someone had heard of you and your work, and thought enough of you to send you a copy of their manuscript?

Or even more basic: could you imagine a time when people didn’t know what a gene was? Before genetic pioneers like Darwin and Mendel came to prominence (and even they didn’t know specifically what a gene was), there were the inheritance theories of the ancient Greeks, where body organ “vapours” were thought to be transmitted from males to females. It seems ludicrous that these were considered valid theories of heredity to us now, but that’s only because of all that we’ve learned.

Not only did Mukherjee make me re-appreciate the very foundations of genetics, but he made me relive the horror of the Nazi “eugenics program” across Europe that led to thousands of deaths, and the equally disturbing methods of the eugenics movement in North America (confinement and sterilization of the “less-ideal” and mentally ill). We’ve certainly moved past this dark period in genetics, having (hopefully) learned from our mistakes, but I can’t help but feel a lingering sense of shame for what our predecessors had done.

The last third of THE GENE highlights how our connectivity, the advent of embryonic stem cells, and CRISPR-based gene-editing has brought genetics to new frontiers in gene therapies. In the midst of this excitement, Mukherjee leaves a sobering reminder of what has happened in the past, cautioning us against the new social and moral implications of such research, imbuing readers with a strong sense of responsibility for what comes next.

Whether you’re a seasoned researcher, new student, or someone with a keen interest in biology, Mukherjee’s THE GENE is a thought-provoking read that adds some much-needed humanity to genetics. And who knows, it might just add some flavour to that midterm paper (or grant, or editorial, or presentation) that’s due in just a few short weeks (or days)!

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Sara M. Nolte

Sara Nolte holds a Bachelor of Health Sciences and Masters of Science in Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences from McMaster University. Her MSc research focused on developing a cancer stem model to study brain metastases from the lung. She then spent a year working on developing cell-based cancer immunotherapies. Throughout a highly productive graduate career, Sara became interested in scientific communication and education, and later pursued a career as a Physician Assistant (PA) in order to build medical expertise. Working as a PA in Emergency Medicine helps her find ways to bridge the gaps between laboratory and clinical science, and to improve scientific and health-related communication with the public. Outside of science, Sara enjoys participating in a variety of sports, and is a competitive Olympic weightlifter hoping to compete at the National level soon!

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