Publication

2007-10-18 - Viking Adult

Language

English

Word Count

100,000 words, Guess

Page Count

400 pages

Physical Format

Hardcover

Identifiers

and 3 more
  • Library of Congress Control Number2007033348
  • Goodreads1865671
  • LibraryThing3917936

Classifications

  • LCCQH31.V385 A3 2007

Description

Craig Venter is no ordinary scientist, and no ordinary man. He is the first human being ever to read their own DNA - and see the key to life itself. Yet in doing so, he rocked the establishment and became embroiled in one of the biggest controversies of our age.This is the story of his incredible life: from teenage rebel and Vietnam medic, to daredevil sailor and maverick researcher, whose race to unravel the sequence of the human genome made him both hero and pariah. Incorporating his own genetic make-up into his story, this is an electrifying portrait of a man who pushed back the boundaries of the possible.

Description

The story of the man who achieved one of the greatest feats of our era--the mapping of the human genome. After nearly flunking out of high school, Venter went to Vietnam, where the life and death struggles he encountered as a medic piqued his interest in science and medicine. In 1984 he joined the National Institutes of Health, introduced novel techniques for rapid gene discovery, and left in 1991 to form his own nonprofit genomics research center, where he sequenced the first genome in history in 1995. In 1998 he announced that he would successfully sequence the human genome years sooner, and for far less money, than the government-sponsored Human Genome Project would--a prediction he kept in 2001. The tale involves as much politics (personal and political) as science. He also describes the other startling projects he has conducted since.--From publisher description.

Subjects

Other Editions

  • A Life Decoded: My Genome: My LifeHardcoverViking Adult2007-10-18
Show 1 more editions

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