I was a student of Biology in college. At that time, only two topics excited me,
these are Evolution and Genetics. Now I
imagine, if only these two topics had to be studied I would have studied
further. By the time I finished
graduation, I had hated further studies.
Now I know after
reading this book that even Mendel, whose experiments led to many discoveries about
Genes, had not qualified in his entrance exam for teacher training and failed
repeatedly. But this lead to the situation,
whereby he tended the Garden attached to the seminary where he was undergoing
training for a religious career. This gave
him the opportunity to observe successive generations of Pea plants. He did his
experiments in Pea Plants. This in turn gave
him the insights which led to new discovery of rules of inheritance physical
traits. -In those days there was no word for genetics, which came into
existence later. As his interests did
not clash with that of the people in the Seminary, he was allowed to continue
his experiments.
I was
never more than an average student. I
had other interests such as reading all kinds of books and Sports, especially
Football. I wanted to be a poet or a
songwriter. But I was shy and timid. I feared that I would remain unemployed and
visualized a life in poverty. I tried for a job and got it by fluke.
After many
decades, when I found the books of Richard Dawkins I could reconnect to
Genetics and Evolution. What attracted me to Richard Dawkins was the title of
his book ‘The God Delusion’. I glanced
this book and decided to read it. Then I
read his other books such as ‘The Selfish Gene’, Greatest Show on Earth, The
Blind Watch Maker, Ancestor’s Tale etc. These books made me realize that I had
missed the great opportunity of studying a great subject (Zoology) and what had
put me off was the syllabus and method of teaching the subject and not the
subject itself. Then there was my teen
age angst. I immensely enjoyed reading
the books of Richard Dawkins and has become a fan of him.
I noticed Siddharth
Mukherjee’s book, ‘Emperor of All Melodies – A biography of Cancer’, after coming to know that it had been
awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Cancer is
more about unruly behaviour of cells than about anything else. This wonderful
book kindled my interest in Biology and Cells.
I had read it two times (which I normally don’t do) to fully understand
the contents. I had also gifted two
copies of the book to two doctors, both relations of mine.
S.
Mukherjee’s next book is about ‘Genes’. Now
that I have read it, I can say that this is also one of the excellent books I
have ever read. I like his style; I was
attracted by his wisdom and his quotations from Classical Greek authors,
ancient Sanskrit Songs to the latest authors including Susan Sontag. He has a
very simple, lucid narrative style. It
is like reading a Agatha Christie story, anxiously waiting for the next scene.
The
strenuous efforts of scientists, the pleasure of discovery, the pain of
failure, of patients dying when the scientists expected them to live longer,
the investigations into the causes of failures, the re-jigging of programmes,
medicines and procedures, unexpected action, reaction and sudden improvements
in the health of some of the patients have all been portrayed with the
complexity and in the simple words and with historical perspective without
never losing the grip on the story.
Genes are
invisible dots on the chromosomes which are found inside the cells which are
basic constituents of our body. Genes are passed on from parent to
offspring. Genes determine the physical structures/traits
of all life forms. They contribute, along
with our environment and living conditions, in defining our organs and their
functions and modification. Genes are
also suspected to be one of the determinants of mental abilities. In this books the authors patiently and
logically explains what Genes are, what is the relationships between one
generations to the next which is determined by Genes, action, interaction
between one gene and another, what triggers the action by Genes, how the Gene
type (Genotype) finds expression (phynotype) etc.
The unruly
cancer cells and the Stemcells that give hope to eradicate the disabilities and
diseases of the human beings, the lives of Scientists, ups and downs in their
life, Commerical interests which have a stake in finding the quick solutions to
the diseases in order to make quick money, the controls that the govt. and
institutions have put in place to stop unethical practices and also the facts
that these very controls that stifle creativity and experiments, these are some
of the aspects covered in the book.
There are
things that are codified in Genes.
Sometimes the codes are expressed in the outward/form and at other times
they remain hidden to be exhibited in a future generation. There are other chemicals that are formed
near Genes that also contribute to the inheritance of traits. There are trigger
switches that operate on their own to initiate action, defend the body from
virus, and to stop growing. Some times
they do not operate the switch of stopping the growth, that is called
Cancer. How and when these Genes or
their fellow chemicals acts cannot be predicted. Human beings are learning to investigate, control,
direct the Genes to do something. These
are the frontiers of Biological and chemical sciences, of the things that
reside very deep inside us and other life forms.
As to the
question whether our traits/character is determined by ‘Nature’ or ‘Nurture,
the tentative answer is that both Nature and Nurture influence our growth and
behaviour. Earlier, only mutations that
happened on their own stimulation changed the traits of the species. But we have now started interefering with the
process of growth of organisms in a way no human or God could imagine.
The
uncertainty of action and reaction of the Genes, expression or suppression of
specific traits led me into the wonderland of deepest secrets of human
body. It was an exhilarating journey of
discovery. It is the story of our past and
hope for our future. The goal of
treatment to all of the diseases is in front of us and we see light at the end
of the tunnel.
There are
also disturbing questions. We have gone
so far as to develp the capacity to modify the Gene structure which in turn
determines the physical characteristics of all life forms, including human
beings. Has the time come for MAN to
play GOD? If man starts modifying/interfering
in the fundamental nature of our being where will he lead it to?
Nature has
imbibed in us (and all living things) the processes that have enabled us to
reach thus far after millions of years of evolution. These processes are essentially means for our
survival for such a long time. Can human
beings imagine, perceive or visualize what effects the research in Genes or
interefering in their functions may have on life on earth?.
It appears
reasonably possible that we can produce made-to-order human beings. Will these human beings have all the
invisible processesses which the naturally produced life forms have imbibed in them
over millions of years? There is a possibility that things may out of control
and reach an irreversible doom.
But it is
also true that despite these nagging questions, human beings will improve their
health to unprecedented levels in the near future. May be there will be a day when human beings
can live forever like the mythological ‘Markendeya’, on the blessings of God Shiva. But it is important that he also died in the
end.
Any person with ordinary level of understanding English can understand this
book. It was a pleasure to read this
book.
No comments:
Post a Comment