The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them by Euan Angus Ashley

 

I have been interested in genome research since I first heard about it. As a genealogy researcher, I am curious about what we inherit from our ancestors. I seek out family resemblances and inherited traits, finding my eyes in one relative, my body type in another. 

I wonder what health issues I inherited, or did not inherit. My mother had autoimmune diseases, and so do I. My grandfather had horrible ragweed allergies, and so does our son. My father had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and so does my cousin. My aunt and her two children struggled with alcoholism. Two grandfathers (aged 52 and 68) and an uncle (age 34) died of heart attacks. 

For some people, their genes are secret time bombs. A healthy athlete suffers a sudden heart attack and dies. A baby's normal progress stops, and even regresses. 

What if there was a test that could warn us of impending or likely health issues so doctors could be prepared to remedy or even cure them? What if it was affordable for everyone? What if if was part of our normal preventative health care insurance?

This could be reality.

The Genome Odyssey is a fascinating narrative of Dr. Ashley's research in genome sequencing and how it was applied to solve medical mysteries. 

The science is very accessible in presentation, so that even non-medical folk like myself can understand how genes and sequencing works. The personal stories of those whose lives were changed through genome sequencing  and genetic therapy are affecting. For some, simple OTC supplements changed their life.

The author addresses the current Sars-CoV-2 pandemic, telling how the scientific community swung into action even as governments floundered, and explaining how vaccines was developed and how the different kinds work on the virus. 

"Could even more widespread use of genomics have gotten us further ahead of this pandemic to begin with?", he asks. He notes that wastewater can predict which community will have the next rise in infections. If we systematically tested wastewater the way we test drinking water, we could be prepared to prevent disease flareups.

In a capitalist, profit-driven health system, the question is who will pay. Will the rich only benefit, or those victims of rare diseases who are covered by research grants? Another issue to be addressed is the privacy of genome information and its use. Ashley adds, "Just because we can, doesn't mean we should. Nor does it mean that we can afford it."

Yet the possibilities of what doctors will be able to do in the future are endless.

I received an ARC from the publisher through Bookish First. My review is fair and unbiased.

The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them 
by Euan Angus Ashley, MD, PhD
Celadon Books
Publication Date: February 23, 2021

hardcover $26.99; ebook $14.99
ISBN 9781250234995

from the publisher

“This wonderful page-turner captures the excitement, peril, wonder and anticipation of the so-called “genomics” era — the era that has begun us to allow us to sequence the entirety of DNA carried within our bodies, and to understand the functions of parts of this genome. Dr Ashley, one of the pioneers of gene sequencing technologies, writes with authority, elegance and simplicity to enable an in-depth understanding of the most exciting scientific developments of our times. Every curious reader must read this book.” —Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of Maladies and The Gene

In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Euan Ashley, Stanford professor of medicine and genetics, brings the breakthroughs of precision medicine to vivid life through the real diagnostic journeys of his patients and the tireless efforts of his fellow doctors and scientists as they hunt to prevent, predict, and beat disease.

Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, the price of genome sequencing has dropped at a staggering rate. It’s as if the price of a Ferrari went from $350,000 to a mere forty cents. Through breakthroughs made by Dr. Ashley’s team at Stanford and other dedicated groups around the world, analyzing the human genome has decreased from a heroic multibillion dollar effort to a single clinical test costing less than $1,000.

For the first time we have within our grasp the ability to predict our genetic future, to diagnose and prevent disease before it begins, and to decode what it really means to be human.

In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Ashley details the medicine behind genome sequencing with clarity and accessibility. More than that, with passion for his subject and compassion for his patients, he introduces readers to the dynamic group of researchers and doctor detectives who hunt for answers, and to the pioneering patients who open up their lives to the medical community during their search for diagnoses and cures.

He describes how he led the team that was the first to analyze and interpret a complete human genome, how they broke genome speed records to diagnose and treat a newborn baby girl whose heart stopped five times on the first day of her life, and how they found a boy with tumors growing inside his heart and traced the cause to a missing piece of his genome.

These patients inspire Dr. Ashley and his team as they work to expand the boundaries of our medical capabilities and to envision a future where genome sequencing is available for all, where medicine can be tailored to treat specific diseases and to decode pathogens like viruses at the genomic level, and where our medical system as we know it has been completely revolutionized.

The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness by Emily Anthes

 

I so enjoyed reading The Great Indoors. Every chapter was enlightening and interesting, the science made accessible and relevant. Emily Anthes wisely introduces readers to cutting-edge insights and ideas through a series of first person experiences of applied science.

I have been isolating in place since March 11, 2020. With very few trips into the world other than neighborhood walks; my life has been spent indoors. Our son, like millions of people, has worked from home. School closings meant our neighbor's children were educated from home. 

Anthes begins her journey at home, the "indoor jungle" of microbial and insect species that we share our space with. Of course, many of these originate in our own bodies! Our personal bacteria, and those of our pets (who introduce outdoor microbes) create a personal, unique biome that we recreate wherever we take domicile.

Next, Anthes stops at the hospital. Those bacteria we share in our home get shared in the hospital rooms, persisting even after cleaning. Sure, we have come a long way; what more can be done? Anyone who has been overnight in a hospital knows the issues: sounds and lights that prevent sleep and raise stress; the awful views of roofs or walls from the windows. Studies prove that patients recuperate quicker and better when they have private rooms with a view.

Buildings themselves lead to the health issues that send us to hospital care in the first place. Giving people ways to exercise, encouraging the use of walking and stairs can help. Starting in elementary schools. Anthes visited a school built to encourage movement and good eating choices.

Finding the balance between privacy and communal interaction is a continuing workplace challenge. Cubicles are being replaced by unassigned workstations. I remember wearing a sweater in summertime air conditioning, and short sleeves in overheated winter offices. What is the best option--working in a crowded room or isolated in a private office?

The chapter on building to accommodate all people, including the disabled and handicapped, has broadened to include people on the Autism Spectrum Disorder. Since every Autistic person has different needs, no one plant fits every need. We meet people seeking a space that allows independent living.

The history of prisons is a dark one, for even the 'improvements' were harsh. Quakers believed in reformation through isolation that allowed contemplation and repentance. The Philadelphia penitentiary  built to enforce this isolation morphed into today's solitary confinement, which has proved to exacerbate mental health issues. Anthes visits a prison that feel home-like, with direct supervision and interaction between staff and inmates, have proven successful. Of course, the real solution to mass incarceration is investing in communities and addressing the root causes of crime.

Smart devices are all the rage. Some of us already are living a Jetsons life with high-tech homes. Robot vacuums and programmable appliances are fast becoming old technology. There are mirrors that can detect cardiovascular issues based on skin color. Senior residential floors that alert staff to falls. The implications are both comforting and disconcerting!

Soon after we moved into our retirement home, our community suffered a rare flood that destroyed thousands of home basements. It took years for most to haul out the damage and make repairs, with local contractors overwhelmed with work. We were lucky; situated on a hill, and having addressed basement cracks, we stayed dry. But for millions, flooding and rising water levels is a continual threat. It is amazing to read about floating homes and how houses can be retrofitted on a budget.

Last year I read about a woman's experience of live on Mars....Well, at least life in a biodome that recreated what it would be like to live in community on Mars. Scientists are studying what kind of buildings would be needed to live on the moon or on another planet. Even IKEA has been involved.

Every part of your life is addressed in The Great Indoors. Home, health, learning, independence, and the future. 

I received a free book from the publisher through Goodreads.

The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness
by Emily Anthes
Scientific American / Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Published June 23, 2020
ISBN0374166633 (ISBN13: 9780374166632)

from the publisher

Modern humans are an indoor species. We spend 90 percent of our time inside, shuttling between homes and offices, schools and stores, restaurants and gyms. And yet, in many ways, the indoor world remains unexplored territory. For all the time we spend inside buildings, we rarely stop to consider: How do these spaces affect our mental and physical well-being? Our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors? Our productivity, performance, and relationships?

In this wide-ranging, character-driven book, science journalist Emily Anthes takes us on an adventure into the buildings in which we spend our days, exploring the profound, and sometimes unexpected, ways that they shape our lives. Drawing on cutting-edge research, she probes the pain-killing power of a well-placed window and examines how the right office layout can expand our social networks. She investigates how room temperature regulates our cognitive performance, how the microbes hiding in our homes influence our immune systems, and how cafeteria design affects what—and how much—we eat.

Along the way, Anthes takes readers into an operating room designed to minimize medical errors, a school designed to boost students’ physical fitness, and a prison designed to support inmates’ psychological needs. And she previews the homes of the future, from the high-tech houses that could monitor our health to the 3D-printed structures that might allow us to live on the Moon.

The Great Indoors provides a fresh perspective on our most familiar surroundings and a new understanding of the power of architecture and design. It's an argument for thoughtful interventions into the built environment and a story about how to build a better world—one room at a time.

Ingredients by George Zaidan

"Ok, buckle up: it's going to be a bumpy ride."

~from Ingredients by George Zaidan

The cover art alone clued me in that George Zaidan's book Ingredients would be an entertaining approach to science.

I must confess, I did not do well in high school chemistry. The class met at 2 pm in the afternoon; the classroom was too warm, the subject too dry, and I was not the only student who dozed off. Mr. Heald would kick the metal trash can to wake us up.

Zaidan is a 'science communicator' who understands people like me and knows how to make chemistry understandable. He draws pictures and diagrams and talks us through. He is our personal decoder, translating the language of scientific research into English "as accurately and entertainingly as possible."

In the Preface, Zaidan admits that his readings surprised him. 

Facts are shifty things. Because science, we learn, is not exact. There are so many ways to set up and twist results, so many variables, that we can't trust all the trial results that we read about.

You know the ones I am talking about. Wait five minutes and you will hear a study from Podunk U that reverses yesterday's study from Wossamotta U.

Caffeine is good for you, caffeine is bad for you. Eggs are good sources of nutrition, eggs are bad for your heart. Butter is bad for you, butter is better than margarine, olive oil is better than anything and its used in the Mediterranean Diet which will extend your life.

Life's big questions are the center of Zaidan's quest for knowledge:

• How much life does every additional Cheeto suck from your body?
• Are e-cigarettes really a healthier choice?
• Is coffee the elixir of life of blood of the devil?
• Does chlorine create that public pool smell?
• Does sunscreen absorb photons like Whitney Houston's bodyguard absorbs bullets in The Bodyguard?
• Should we pay attention to newspaper headlines about food and health
• How can I add three years to my life expectancy
• Does prayer reduce the risk of death?

His conclusions are not as conclusive as we would like. The biggies are still there: Don't smoke. Be active. Eat reasonably well.

I appreciated how Zaidan broke down the way tests and studies are carried out. It was the most interesting aspect of the book for me.

I was given a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What we Put in Us and on Us
George Zaidan
Dutton
Publication Date Apr 14, 2020
Hardcover  $27.00
ISBN 9781524744274


Listen to an excerpt from the book here

About the author:George Zaidan is a science communicator, television and web host, and producer. He created National Geographic’s webseries Ingredients, and he cowrote and directed MIT’s webseries Science Out Loud. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, The Boston Globe, National Geographic Magazine, NPR’s The Salt, NBC’s Cosmic Log, Science, Business Insider, and Gizmodo. He is currently executive producer at the American Chemical Society. Ingredients is his first book.

Coming to Age: Growing Older with Poetry

In her poem Reconsideration, Mary Ann Hoberman reminds us, "...only lucky folk grow old."

When I was a young woman older people would tell me, "Don't ever grow old, Nancy." I would laugh and reply, "It's better than the alternative."

Now I am an older person, I still think old age better than the alternative. Still, every year brings a new reminder of what I am loosing. For the first time I feel a chill at the idea of nothingness. How can I not be? How can the world be if I am not?

This mystery begins to niggle at me when I wake at night. 

Coming to Age is a collection of poetry that speaks to the universal human experience of aging and the concerns and joys that accompany growing older. The poems were chosen for their universality and accessibility.

Themes include being rooted in this time and place; the passage of time; the solace of nature; the physical body's frailty; the loss of loved ones; the view from old age; the memories that made us who we are; the mystery of life; and that which gives solace and joy and sustains us.

Many of the poems moved me, eliciting a cold chill of recognition or a warm sun of memory.

"But memories, where can you take them to? Take one last look at them. They end with you," wrote Clive James in Star System. And I wonder about all the knowledge I hold that will be lost, the swing of my mother's blonde ponytail ascending the stairs when I was three, the sound of my son's baby voice. And I regret all the untold tales held secret in my mother's breast, the stories lost with death.

The breadth of the poems can be shown in these examples, Wendell Berry appreciating the peace nature brings and Kurt Vonnegut how we destroy the Earth.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
Wendell Berry

Requiem

The crucified planet Earth,
should it find a voice
and a sense of irony,
might now well say
of our abuse of it,
"Forgive them, Father,
they know not what they do."

The irony would be
that we know what
we are doing.

When the last living thing
has died on account of us,
how poetical it would be
if Earth could say,
in a voice floating up
perhaps
from the floor
of the Grand Canyon,
"It is done."
People did not like it here.
Kurt Vonnegut

It takes a kind of courage to read these poems, to open yourself to grapple with life and death. But you will find catharsis and a recognition that you are not alone, and you will perhaps even find joy.

There is "So much to do still, all of it praise," Derek Walcott wrote in Untitled #51.,"...how pure a thing is joy."

"What love, what longing, my reader, speaks to you from this page!" proclaims John Hall Wheelock in To You, Perhaps Yet Unborn, in which he imagines readers who read his words posthumously.

These poems are the gifts of poets whose words reach out over years or centuries to alter our perceptions and comfort us.

I was given a free ebook by the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Coming to Age: Growing Older with Poetry
by Mary Ann Hoberman and Carolyn Hopley
Little, Brown and Company
Pub Date April 14, 2020
ISBN: 9780316424912
$25.00 (USD) hardcover; $12.99 ebook

from the publisher:

This exquisitely giftable anthology of poems about age and aging reveals the wisdom of trailblazing writers who found power and growth later in life. 

At eighty-two, the novelist Penelope Lively wrote: "Our experience is one unknown to most of humanity, over time. We are the pioneers." Coming to Age is a collection of dispatches from the great poet-pioneers who have been fortunate enough to live into their later years. 

Those later years can be many things: a time of harvesting, of gathering together the various strands of the past and weaving them into a rich fabric. They can also be a new beginning, an exploration of the unknown. We speak of "growing old." And indeed, as we too often forget, aging is growing, growing into a new stage of life, one that can be a fulfillment of all that has come before. 

To everything there is a season. Poetry speaks to them all. Just as we read newspapers for news of the world, we read poetry for news of ourselves. Poets, particularly those who have lived and written into old age, have much to tell us. Bringing together a range of voices both present and past, from Emily Dickinson and W. H. Auden to Louise Gluck and Li-Young Lee, Coming to Age reveals new truths, offers spiritual sustenance, and reminds us of what we already know but may have forgotten, illuminating the profound beauty and significance of commonplace moments that become more precious and radiant as we grow older.