Since I am so passionate about reading, I'm starting a new segment every week about what I'm reading. If you know me, you know that I read fairly quickly. My goal is to finish a new book every week. Also, this might help my fellow book lovers find a new book to read. That is assuming of course their pile of books waiting to be read is finished.
This week, I am reading Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi. This book explores the human genome documenting many cases of gene mutations. Now I realize this book sounds like a typical science book and some people just simply aren't into nonfiction books. However, I find this book fascinating. The book discusses how all of us are considered mutants seeing as all of us exhibit mutations in one gene or another; but some of us are more mutated than others. If you like science this is definitely a book to look into. I just finished the section on "cleppies" which discusses ectrodactyly and other congenital disorders in the limbs. The best part is that you don't have to be a scientist to understand the material. The book really goes into depth to help someone who isn't educated in the field to understand.
Mutants explores the history of genetics and gives rise to possible answers to scientific theories. For example, the book tries to justify how Hox genes are the last judgements of our fate as an embryo. The book also discusses various genes and what they do as well as where we experience our mutations as we develop. Mutants is highly informative in topics such as cyclopia, conjoined twins, fibrodysplasia, and gigantism. The book also emphasizes the importance of scientific evolution. Science is always changing over time. Leroi gives a historical perspective of each mutation as well as a brief overview of the discovery of each genetic anomaly. Even genetics isn't your thing, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in science or going into a science related field.
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