GENETICS WITHOUT TECHNOLOGY
Book: The Gene: An Intimate History
Author: Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Gene is a reasonable book for those not in STEM or unfamiliar with genetics. Mukherjee provides sufficient and interesting background on the formation of Genentech and using genes to solve major health problems. Conversely, he missed the opportunity to add technological advances in DNA sequencing.
The human genome project and the first-generation of sequencing instruments would have helped readers understand the importance of innovation regarding genetic information.
First Gen
The invention of the first generation of high-throughput DNA sequencing instruments made possible the rapidity of the human genome project. Technology like the capillary array system provided a prototype for next-gen systems like the faster and larger output machines by Illumina. It was an exciting time of a race to complete the human genome by using primarily two rival high-throughput sequencers. Engineers at Silicon Valley companies ABI and Molecular Dynamics (now GE) innovated instruments that sequenced DNA in the span of a few hours. To completely skip this era left readers without a key piece of history.
