Synopsis
In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Euan Ashley, Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, brings the breakthroughs of precision medicine to vivid life through the real diagnostic journeys of his patients and the tireless efforts of his fellow doctors and scientists as they hunt to prevent, predict, and beat disease.
Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, the price of genome sequencing has dropped at a staggering rate. It’s as if the price of a Ferrari went from $350,000 to a mere forty cents. Through breakthroughs made by Dr. Ashley’s team at Stanford and other dedicated groups around the world, analyzing the human genome has decreased from a heroic multibillion dollar effort to a single clinical test costing less than $1,000.
For the first time we have within our grasp the ability to predict our genetic future, to diagnose and prevent disease before it begins, and to decode what it really means to be human.
In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Ashley details the medicine behind genome sequencing with clarity and accessibility. More than that, with passion for his subject and compassion for his patients, he introduces readers to the dynamic group of researchers and doctor detectives who hunt for answers, and to the pioneering patients who open up their lives to the medical community during their search for diagnoses and cures.
He describes how he led the team that was the first to analyze and interpret a complete human genome, how they broke genome speed records to diagnose and treat a newborn baby girl whose heart stopped five times on the first day of her life, and how they found a boy with tumors growing inside his heart and traced the cause to a missing piece of his genome.
These patients inspire Dr. Ashley and his team as they work to expand the boundaries of our medical capabilities and to envision a future where genome sequencing is available for all, where medicine can be tailored to treat specific diseases and to decode pathogens like viruses at the genomic level, and where our medical system as we know it has been completely revolutionized.
The Good
~Forward advancement of genomes (and science) is exciting to read about- it seems incredibly revolutionary.
~Surprised how current it was- it talks about COVID-19 and its connection to genome science.
~If you are into rare diseases this probably would be a good book to get into since it goes into many patients with rare diseases.
~Although, science is overwhelming in its complexity it is still interesting.
The Bad
So I am not into the technical side of science thus meaning the really specific terms and stuff is not for me. Generally, a lot of the story was not my bag for so to speak but I do not think it is objectively poorly written.
It did bother me a bit the introductions of different medical professionals throughout the book- some of (a lot?) of the describing of the professionals personalities sounded the same.
Thoughts
There is a push to streamline drugs/deal with the effects instead of the cause without exploration of people’s biology?
I received this from Celadon Books in exchange for my review
(the cover image and synopsis is from goodreads)
themollyweather 