The Gene

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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author explores the profound history of a scientific idea: the quest to decode the genetic instructions that define humanity and shape our futures. This journey begins in 1856 at a Moravian abbey where Gregor Mendel, a monk experimenting with pea plants, discovers the concept of a "unit of heredity." This idea intersects with Darwin's evolution theory and confronts the dark legacy of Nazi eugenics in the 1940s. The gene revolutionizes biology and permeates discussions on race, identity, sexuality, and free will, prompting urgent questions about our personal lives. The narrative showcases the brilliance of figures like Mendel, Darwin, Francis Crick, James Watson, and Rosalind Franklin, alongside countless contemporary scientists unraveling the genetic code. Interwoven is the author's own family history, marked by schizophrenia, illustrating that genetics extends beyond laboratories into everyday existence. The moral implications of genetics resonate today as we gain the ability to "read" and "write" the human genome, raising the potential to alter the destinies of future generations.