Books
John Sulston, director of the Sanger Centre in Cambridge for seven years, led the British team in completing a third of the Human Genome Project. This book tells the tale of the people behind it. The process of sequencing our genetic makeup is believed by some to be the greatest human achievement ever. At the time the media portrayed Craig Venter's genomic company Celera as a David struggling against the might of the HGP, an international and publicly funded Goliath. However, Sulston describes the reality as somewhat different. He tells of a fundamental dispute on the proper conduction of science. Venter was, in fact, amply supported by pharmaceutical multinationals. They attempted to patent raw sequences to monopolise on our common heritage, the DNA strand, for personal gain. The public effort, on the other hand, regularly published data for free and universal use by the research community, with obvious implications for the rapid discovery of medical diagnoses, therapies and cures. Venter was also a gifted spin-doctor, claiming that his method was faster and more efficient than others, and very nearly caused the withdrawal of funding for the "inferior" and "redundant" public venture. When the draft sequences were finally published last year, however, Celera's offering was found to contain many gaps, was poorly error-checked and in fact relied to a great extent on the public data.
Although the complexities of this scientific debate may not be to everybody's taste, it is indisputably an important book, charting this fascinating new branch of scientific progress in detail. Luckily, The Common Thread makes easy reading and presents an intriguing look into the changing face of science, for better or worse, from increasing the sum total of human knowledge for its own sake to the corporatisation and hoarding of results. Sulston also skilfully broaches the topics of patenting biotechnological discoveries rather than inventions, genetic determinism, gene therapy, eugenics and 'designer babies'. All are issues which are currently under dispute. The book closes with a discussion of the startling discovery that we only have twice the number of genes as a fruit fly, and the science fiction-sounding predictions of genetic profiling producing personalised medication or even diets. A story which deserves to be told.
Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 A Space Odyssey is a classic which deservedly earns its place in literary and cinematic history.
Are you sick to death of Tolkien? So were The Harvard Lampoon, hence the production of Bored of the Rings. A highly amusing pastiche.
The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells is moving science fiction. The protagonist's invisibility obsession and eventual loss of humanity are haunting.
Philip K. Dick experienced a "pink beam" of light which inspired his literature, an experience explored in Valis.
The Worm of Ourobouros by E. R. Eddison, admired by Lewis and Tolkien, is full of the essential fantasy components - battle, magic and love. A true early classic.
Elric, the eponymous hero of Michael Moorcock's novel, is an albino swordsman crippled by loss and failure in this dark tale.
9th May 2002