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"A leading geneticist explores what promises to be one of the most transformative advances in health and medicine in history. Almost every week, another exciting headline appears about new advances in the field of genetics. Genetic testing is experiencing the exponential growth once seen with the Internet, and the plummeting cost of DNA sequencing makes it increasingly accessible for individuals and families. Dr. Steven M. Lipkin suggests that today's genomics is like the last century's nuclear physics: a powerful tool for good if used correctly, but potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. DNA testing is promising in treating serious disease, but Beijing Genomics, one of the world's largest genomics centers, is quietly developing gene tests to predict intelligence and athletic prowess in prenatal embryo selection. DNA testing could also lead to unnecessary procedures and significantly higher health-care costs. And all too often, sequencing errors diagnose patients with debilitating and fatal genetic diseases.The Genome Generation immerses readers in stories of real patients on the genomics frontier and explores the transformative potential and dangerous risks of genetic technology. It will inform anxious parents increasingly bombarded by offers of costly new prenatal testing products, and demonstrate how genetic technology, when deployed properly, can prevent or treat genetic disorders such as neurological diseases or cancer. Lipkin explains the science in depth, but in terms a layperson can follow"--… (more)
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Library's review
I requested this advance review copy because I have a personal interest in genetics--I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a hereditary connective tissue disorder. I scour the latest medical journal articles for more knowledge to keep myself as healthy as possible, but I thought I would see if I could
The good news: the book is easy reading and engaging, in my opinion. The bad news: the book could do better on references to scholarly sources. On pages 104 & 105, he compares connective tissues to a smart home/intranet of things, sending signals to the blood and immune systems and retarding the growth of cancer cells. I have done immense amounts of study on connective tissues and had never seen any reference to this, so I was dubious. Not a single footnote to back up this claim, so I got on PubMed and found out that 1 solitary researcher has published a *hypothesis* that this might be the case and called for further research...this is not even a solid theory yet, let alone settled fact. See PMID 16483726. I believe this hypothesis has a decent chance of being true, but at least be intellectually honest and admit it's a hypothesis.
I wish that the book gave a better, more complete explanation of imprinting and mosaicism and other complicated concepts--it's overly simplified. Epigenetics is explained well, however.
Some of the issues discussed in the book are precision medicine, inequality in coverage of testing and treatment for genetic diseases, genetic criminal forensics and the pitfalls thereof, epigenetics, eugenics, genetic discrimination, cut-rate genetic sequencing vs more expensive, higher quality sequencing, whole-exome sequencing in healthy people, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, and whole genome sequencing of newborns. These issues were explained well along with their controversial aspects.
About half of the genetic defects discussed in the book are familial cancer syndromes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Loeys-Dietz Syndrome mentioned. It is a rather new disease to be described in the medical journals and I remember when Dr. Dietz was looking for additional patients in order to have more than a handful of patients in his case reports.
My biggest beef with the author is his statement that his patient who came to him saying that he had 3 rare, unrelated genetic disorders has Munchausen Syndrome. Doctors who aren't psychiatrists have absolutely no business diagnosing Munchausen Syndrome. Earlier in the book, he ridicules the idea of idiopathic disease--well, the vast majority of diagnoses of Munchausen Syndrome by non-psychiatrists are every bit as intellectually lazy as idiopathic diagnoses. If you have non-specific symptoms that can't be backed up with laboratory findings, the majority of non-psychiatrist practitioners believe that those symptoms are imaginary and pull out the Munchausen/somatization diagnosis. Pain, vertigo, near-syncope, itching, blurred vision, tinnitus, fatigue, paresthesias, and many more symptoms cannot be verified clinically, but they do exist. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses (unless you are in a zoo), but remember that zebras do exist. I would challenge Dr. Lipkin with a case study of an individual with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Conn Syndrome, and severe JAK2-negative polycythemia--all completely and vastly different disorders and should never occur in the same patient, correct? False, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is the hint that there is something else going on: Mast Cell Activation Syndrome--yes, a fourth diagnosis, but MCAS can cause both endocrine tumors and polycythemia, and is very, very closely associated with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The motto is "If you can't connect the issues, think connective tissues!"
In short, this is no scholarly tome and the author/coauthor/editor isn't always "sciencing" correctly, but it was an interesting read. I won't recommend it to any of my friends because of the overly simplistic or inaccurate explanations of scientific principles, but it is a decent overview of ethical debates regarding genetics in the entertaining form of a memoir.
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learn more about genetics in general from this book.The good news: the book is easy reading and engaging, in my opinion. The bad news: the book could do better on references to scholarly sources. On pages 104 & 105, he compares connective tissues to a smart home/intranet of things, sending signals to the blood and immune systems and retarding the growth of cancer cells. I have done immense amounts of study on connective tissues and had never seen any reference to this, so I was dubious. Not a single footnote to back up this claim, so I got on PubMed and found out that 1 solitary researcher has published a *hypothesis* that this might be the case and called for further research...this is not even a solid theory yet, let alone settled fact. See PMID 16483726. I believe this hypothesis has a decent chance of being true, but at least be intellectually honest and admit it's a hypothesis.
I wish that the book gave a better, more complete explanation of imprinting and mosaicism and other complicated concepts--it's overly simplified. Epigenetics is explained well, however.
Some of the issues discussed in the book are precision medicine, inequality in coverage of testing and treatment for genetic diseases, genetic criminal forensics and the pitfalls thereof, epigenetics, eugenics, genetic discrimination, cut-rate genetic sequencing vs more expensive, higher quality sequencing, whole-exome sequencing in healthy people, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, and whole genome sequencing of newborns. These issues were explained well along with their controversial aspects.
About half of the genetic defects discussed in the book are familial cancer syndromes, but I was pleasantly surprised to find Loeys-Dietz Syndrome mentioned. It is a rather new disease to be described in the medical journals and I remember when Dr. Dietz was looking for additional patients in order to have more than a handful of patients in his case reports.
My biggest beef with the author is his statement that his patient who came to him saying that he had 3 rare, unrelated genetic disorders has Munchausen Syndrome. Doctors who aren't psychiatrists have absolutely no business diagnosing Munchausen Syndrome. Earlier in the book, he ridicules the idea of idiopathic disease--well, the vast majority of diagnoses of Munchausen Syndrome by non-psychiatrists are every bit as intellectually lazy as idiopathic diagnoses. If you have non-specific symptoms that can't be backed up with laboratory findings, the majority of non-psychiatrist practitioners believe that those symptoms are imaginary and pull out the Munchausen/somatization diagnosis. Pain, vertigo, near-syncope, itching, blurred vision, tinnitus, fatigue, paresthesias, and many more symptoms cannot be verified clinically, but they do exist. When you hear hoofbeats, think horses (unless you are in a zoo), but remember that zebras do exist. I would challenge Dr. Lipkin with a case study of an individual with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Conn Syndrome, and severe JAK2-negative polycythemia--all completely and vastly different disorders and should never occur in the same patient, correct? False, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is the hint that there is something else going on: Mast Cell Activation Syndrome--yes, a fourth diagnosis, but MCAS can cause both endocrine tumors and polycythemia, and is very, very closely associated with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. The motto is "If you can't connect the issues, think connective tissues!"
In short, this is no scholarly tome and the author/coauthor/editor isn't always "sciencing" correctly, but it was an interesting read. I won't recommend it to any of my friends because of the overly simplistic or inaccurate explanations of scientific principles, but it is a decent overview of ethical debates regarding genetics in the entertaining form of a memoir.
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User reviews
LibraryThing member waltzmn
I think this must be the first time I've ever rooted for a cancer.
Don't take that wrong. I don't want cancer killing people. But this book talks both about diseases (most especially cancer) and those who have them. And, frankly, the disease parts are a lot more interesting.
That may be a minority
Also, while it is clear that author Lipkin knows a lot about genetics, I'm not so confident about other areas. At least, in the one area I know -- autism -- he's clearly not very expert. For example, he claims that autism is more common in boys than girls -- and seems to be subtly hinting that boy children of families with autistic members should abort their boy children. Apart from the fact that autism isn't such a bad thing (would you have aborted Isaac Newton, Dr. Lipkin? How about Thomas Jefferson? They both showed clear signs of autism), the fact is not that boys are more likely to have autism, not that they are more likely to be diagnosed with autism -- a self-fulfilling prophecy: if only boys have autism, then only boys will be diagnosed with it! The overwhelming trend of recent research is that girls are much better at hiding their autism, so while it's likely that nearly as many girls as boys have autism, they haven't been diagnosed.
That's one nitpick. It's not fair to judge a book on one nitpick. But it really does seem to me that this book falls between the stools of "good science" and "personal interest" -- but closer to "personal interest." And that isn't a book I want, and I doubt it's a book we need.
Don't take that wrong. I don't want cancer killing people. But this book talks both about diseases (most especially cancer) and those who have them. And, frankly, the disease parts are a lot more interesting.
That may be a minority
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opinion. After all, the world is full of human interest stories. But these did not strike me as compelling stories, other than the fact that the victims were victims. Too many of them seemed like people intent on fight! fight! fight!-ing their cancers. If I wanted gladiatorial contests, I'd read Roman history, not a book on genetic medicine. What this book could offer that isn't hard to find elsewhere is a real look at what we have already learned about using genetic studies in medicine, and what else we might hope to learn in future. As well as statistics about how well these approaches work -- people have been killed by well-meaning people sold on bogus therapies that supposedly worked for Cousin Melissa's friend Horace.Also, while it is clear that author Lipkin knows a lot about genetics, I'm not so confident about other areas. At least, in the one area I know -- autism -- he's clearly not very expert. For example, he claims that autism is more common in boys than girls -- and seems to be subtly hinting that boy children of families with autistic members should abort their boy children. Apart from the fact that autism isn't such a bad thing (would you have aborted Isaac Newton, Dr. Lipkin? How about Thomas Jefferson? They both showed clear signs of autism), the fact is not that boys are more likely to have autism, not that they are more likely to be diagnosed with autism -- a self-fulfilling prophecy: if only boys have autism, then only boys will be diagnosed with it! The overwhelming trend of recent research is that girls are much better at hiding their autism, so while it's likely that nearly as many girls as boys have autism, they haven't been diagnosed.
That's one nitpick. It's not fair to judge a book on one nitpick. But it really does seem to me that this book falls between the stools of "good science" and "personal interest" -- but closer to "personal interest." And that isn't a book I want, and I doubt it's a book we need.
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LibraryThing member ehousewright
I thought this book hit the sweet spot between popular and hard science. The patient stories that serve to center each chapter and topic are well-chosen, interesting and approachable examples, but along with the stories are relatively in-depth scientific details of the diseases and genetic causes.
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Given how quickly the field changes the accounts were very current. He raises and discusses issues that will surely be of interest to social scientists as well as to individuals who may need, or want, genetic sequencing done. Not a textbook but not fiction, this book is an informative way to approach this topic. Show Less
LibraryThing member johnclaydon
Prospective buyers should pay attention to the subtitle. This is a book of tales, too anecdotal. Another problem is the tone. Most of the text is written for adults but too much is outright written for children. Many readers will feel insulted. Moderately useffull at best.
LibraryThing member quilted_kat
Lipkin goes from the history of genetic science to modern theories of genetic disease. Not backed by enough citations to be considered a serious science text, with some broad generalizations. But interesting enough for a layman to enjoy.
LibraryThing member octafoil40
The Intoduction to this book is excellent and I highly recommend that
everyone read it for its insights as to the present status of research in Genetics.
But the remaining chapters are too specifically tied to specific individuals, such that it does not appear to be of much use to the general
everyone read it for its insights as to the present status of research in Genetics.
But the remaining chapters are too specifically tied to specific individuals, such that it does not appear to be of much use to the general
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reader (Whose reading efforts would be wasted!) Show Less
LibraryThing member Jim_Sipe
Likpin provides his readers with a look into the world of DNA and how it can affect our lives, through case studies and examples. He includes a bit of DNA history, medical and identity data related information obtainable from DNA, plus both positive and negative use of DNA.
I found this to be a
Some of the scientific discussions about DNA discovery and exploration were written for the so everyone can understand and not just molecular biologists, physicians or geneticist. Being able to read and understand the information was wonderful. That said, there are references to aspects of DNA that will take need a sophisticated knowledge of the science to understand.
I would recommend this book to others interested in a DNA. Even some doctors would benefit from a deeper understanding of DNA and medicine, this book might be a good place to start.
I found this to be a
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very interesting read and helpful for understanding a wide variety of instances where DNA plays an important role. The medical side includes information about using DNA for treatment and whether testing of one’s genome is a good idea from a preventative medical standpoint, and how insurance companies figure into medical treat for some diseases. Cases for DNA use by law enforcement to convict or overturn guilty verdicts were included with a case demonstrating the misuse of DNA to try and prove a criminal case.Some of the scientific discussions about DNA discovery and exploration were written for the so everyone can understand and not just molecular biologists, physicians or geneticist. Being able to read and understand the information was wonderful. That said, there are references to aspects of DNA that will take need a sophisticated knowledge of the science to understand.
I would recommend this book to others interested in a DNA. Even some doctors would benefit from a deeper understanding of DNA and medicine, this book might be a good place to start.
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LibraryThing member michaelg16
A very fine companion to the new Siddhartha Mukherjee book on the Gene and in some ways a superior effort. Lipkin offers a very serious reading of what is happening and what is at stake in the dizzyingly replete world of medical genetics and offers both science and narrative to acutely reveal some
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of the juicier and dangerous aspects of his work. Highly recommended to anyone who can read and has a genome! Show Less
LibraryThing member jamesgwld
Story-telling made this enjoyable for the layman and there was enough science for the amateur scientist. This is not a classic by any means, but a fun little tromp through the area of genomes.
LibraryThing member Paulmb
“The Age of Genomes” by Steven Monroe Lipkin was reminiscent to me of books written by Oliver Sacks in its style and the telling of actual patient stories mixed with clinical and scientific facts. Lipkin does a good job in explaining how an understanding of our unique genomes can lead to custom
I received this advance copy through Library Thing, from the publisher Beacon Press.
6/21/16
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treatments for many diseases, and potential pitfalls when we know too much. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in the latest developments in the treatment of the various genetic, neurological diseases, and cancer. This is a five star book.I received this advance copy through Library Thing, from the publisher Beacon Press.
6/21/16
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9780807074572