Biocode: The New Age of Genomics

Biologists Field and Davies provide an interesting, if somewhat superficial, overview of the relatively new field of genomics, a discipline that combines cell biology, molecular biology, classical genetics, and computational science. The authors describe the basic operation of DNA and explain how major advances in technology permit researchers to cheaply and quickly sequence the genomes of all organisms, changing much about our understanding of biology. These advances have led to new insights about the evolution of humans and have allowed quicker response to outbreaks of disease such as SARS; they have also raised some fascinating questions, such as how giant viruses known as Pandoraviruses evolved and how they function. Field and Davies discuss the implications for biodiversity studies that arise from widespread DNA sequencing—pointing out the alarming rate at which species are currently going extinct—and the potential for personalized medicine based on the genetic makeup of individuals. Most of this work is still speculative, however, and their scant explanations of the applied realities of this research go no further than the many other texts addressing the topic. Although there are some fascinating sections, they touch on too many topics for such a short book, and the writing is too uninspired to carry readers along. (May)