In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite (Paperback)

Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-Million-Year-Old Ancestor by Neil Shubin 4.6 out of 5 stars (22)  £6.49

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre 4.6 out of 5 stars (142)  £4.85

The Common Thread: A Story of Science, Politics, Ethics and the Human Genome (Joseph Henry Press Books) by John Sulston 5.0 out of 5 stars (1)

Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne 4.4 out of 5 stars (13)  £9.74

Genesis: The Scientific Quest for Life's Origins by David W. Deamer 4.8 out of 5 stars (5)  £11.99

› Explore similar items

Review
As author of the Darwin Wars, Andrew Brown has dealt with some big topics in his time. Now he has chosen to tackle one of the smallest. To the uninitiated, the half a millimetre long, transparent, hermaphrodite nematode worm - Caenorhabditis Elegans - might not seem important enough to merit an entire book. Yet this creature has played a key role in the history of modern molecular biology. Learning about it has given us an insight into the workings of other, more complex life-forms, including our own, and the nematode was the first multi-cellular creature to be gene sequenced. Encompassing over 30 years of scientific experimentation and discussion, the book looks at the problems, personalities and painstaking work involved in the laborious study of this tiny organism. From Sydney Brenner, pun-loving child prodigy, to John Sulston, bearded, bohemian visionary, the characters involved in this story are almost as remarkable as the tale itself. This is a story of hard-working dreamers whose passion and dedication for one tiny creature has resulted in what Tony Blair called 'the first great technological triumph of the twenty-first century'. For, without the work on the nematode worm, there would have been no human genome project. In this, the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the double-helix, it therefore seems appropriate to pay tribute to those scientists who have devoted their lives to this tiny creature, and ask: where do we go from here? After all, as Brown reminds us, decoding and mapping DNA is just the beginning, What we may now be able to do - or want to do - with this new knowledge is a question still to be resolved. A thoughtful and inspirational read. (Kirkus UK)

Product Description
This book is an account of the first great triumph of genomics: the thirty-year struggle to decode the complete DNA of a nematode worm. Success in this was what made the human genome project possible. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORM is an exciting but scrupulous account of a genuine scientific triumph, which will delight both those who know the subject and those who don't. IN THE BEGINNING WAS THE WORM tells of some remarkable characters who have changed our approach to science irrevocably, among them Sydney Brenner, a heroic dreamer who first thought of understanding an animal as a sort of biological Meccano; John Sulston, his first post-doctoral student, who managed to raise GBP30 million; his friend, Bob Horvitz, who has, to all intents and purposes, spent more than thirty years studying the 22 cells of a worm's vulva; and Fred Sanger, the only man to have won two Nobel Prizes in the same discipline. Decades of painstaking research triumphed in 1998, when this worm was the first creature to have all its DNA mapped -- but now what? We still don't know how to build a single worm. In this intriguing story of dreams and disillusionment, Andrew Brown contemplates the next fifty years of biological science, and the way that ignorance expands to surround all available knowledge.

See all Product Description

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

Search inside this book:

1 Review 5 star:    (0) 4 star:  (1) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   3 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Little critters with big secrets, 22 Sep 2006 By  Stephen A. Haines (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    This review is from: In the Beginning Was the Worm: Finding the Secrets of Life in a Tiny Hermaphrodite (Hardcover) The revelations about life promised when the structure of DNA was deduced weren't immediately obvious. In fact, the more investigations proceeded, it was obvious it became that intense study and analysis would be needed. The inheritance of traits, both physical and behavioural, is a difficult mesh to unravel. Research on single-celled organisms, like E. coli, offered only part of the answers. Even the long years of work with fruit flies only hinted at how genes made bodies and habits. An intermediate creature was needed in order to map out how the DNA did its job. That creature was the humble nematode, about as long as your fingernail is thick. In this highly informative book, Andrew Brown traces the years of study undertaken by scientists and technicians to cut away some of the unknowns to derive answers. "Cut away" is suggestive. The earliest work required understanding how the worm was assembled by its genes. That effort entailed slicing the worm in bits to map all the interconnections. For a creature made of less than a thousand cells, its body proved anything but simple. One researcher spent three decades studying the vulva of this hermaphrodite. Another, a technician, learned the finesse required to section the nerves in order that the pathways the wires followed could be tracked. No end of complexity was revealed and some of it remains mysterious today. Brown credits childhood habits that contributed to the talents these researchers applied to worm analysis. The "nerve-cutter" did jigsaw puzzles, while another was one of those kids constantly taking things apart - and reassembling them - when he was young. In sharp contrast to today's research environment, Brown notes, these individuals remained individuals, untrammeled by bureaucracy and often working with little or no supervision or even contact with their colleagues. Their own dedication kept them at their tasks for extended periods - and usually extended hours. Why go to such extreme lengths to examine such a minuscule creature? It was due to Sydney Brenner. Brenner, the son of an illiterate, entered university at age fourteen. When he graduated, Brown notes, Brenner remained too young for legal employment in a university. Research, however, was an open and inviting path. After casting about for the right creature, in the early 1960s he settled on "Caenorhabditis elegans" [say it to yourself quickly!] for detailed study. It was Brenner's vision that the information gleaned would lead to further insights into development and nervous systems - body building and behaviour. Although little was said of it at the time, the techniques would lead to how human behaviour roots would also be revealed. After describing the details of the progress of the "C. elegans" research, Brown describes the growing interest in launching the Human Genome Project. Although nobody proposed slicing up humans to find out what made them tick, other methods were already being developed. Even mapping the simple worm had proven such a tedious task that when computers entered biology laboratories, Brenner and others made quick use of them. The merging of biology and research led to "the algorithm of the worm". Computer images made the mapping process easier for analysis. Databases of the generations of mutations led to better identification of which genes produced the changes. Although even today, some of these mutations remain to be tracked with detail or assurance. The worm, like much of life, retains mysteries demanding more work. It was these computer methods that made the study of the human genome feasible. Various techniques arose to map the genome, some of them, such as Craig Venter's "skipping over" method, brought the picture of the human genome closer, if incomplete. They also led to the dispute over patenting genes. Brown notes how Brenner was an early dissenter against this practice. His objections led to a Britain versus the US dichotomy about where gene research should lead. There remains dispute over why Brenner was such a strenuous opponent. Whatever else the study of the little worm brought to biology, there is no doubt its rewards are highly significant. If nothing else, the awarding of three Nobel Prizes must be counted as great. Brown's effort in researching this book, from delving into the literature to extensive interviews with the surviving participants, makes it worthwhile. There are several personal accounts of the time, which Brown fully acknowledges. He cites frequently the "Worm-Breeder's Gazette" which proved to be a unifying information exchange among the scattered scholars that emerged from the original studies. The "Gazette" tied together not only distant researchers, but the work of those who closely studied small aspects and had no other means of learning who was doing what in other laboratories. Brown's only shortcoming here is a rather patchy prose style. He also engages in some unnecessary repetition, giving the chapters the effect of a set of loosely-tied essays. A good Index - which this book thankfully contains - should have eliminated this approach. The other flaw, far more serious, is the total lack of graphic material. Photographs and diagrams would have made this book peerless. "In the Beginning" is a valuable book, but could have been first class with a bit more effort. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

Samuel Johnson BBC Prize for Non-Fiction 2009: A list by J. Holden "johnlholden"   Books for today: A list by Fiction Fan   Quality new humour: A list by The Cheerful Teacher Create a Listmania! list

Search Listmania!

• Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Genetics
• Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Genetics
• Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Biology > Genetics > Genomics

• Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
• I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
• I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.