My Book Report-The Future of Genetics

This book is about genetics, which is the study of heredity. It has four chapters, introducing the origin of biology in the 21st century, the perceptions of Science, the study and the future of post-genome era.

The first chapter is about how scientists developed concepts of biology, such as cells and DNA. At first, people thought that animals are fully formed from the mind of a creator until Darwin and Wallace introduced the idea of diversity of life. Also, they found out that species adapts natural environment and it can take place at any stage of development.

In the second chapter, the writer introduces the effects of genetics, such as on politics and literature. For example a writer called Mary Shelley wrote a novel called Frankenstein, which is about a creation from dead by a young scientist. It is a tale teaches us that humans may push their power over nature one day. When Darwin introduced the theory of evolution, most people disagree with it and debates were conducted on courts. Some people even teased the evolutionists. Genetics is also used to produce better plants and medicines from animals.

The third chapter told us about different technology used in genetics. To monitor the activities on the genome, scientists use ways such as DNA microarrays, tiling arrays and mass spectrometry. They also have a will to predict how the genotypes affect the phenotypes, therefore they are developing technology to match DNA to species, predict features and diseases, and reconstructing ancient species’ features.

The last chapter made us think about the future of humanity. Now, scientists have already found some genes which can extend our lifespan. And in 30 years time, personalised medicine and gene therapy will be the treatment of most diseases. However, it may cause overpopulation which lead to disaster. At the same time, the large food supply and water pollution makes many species become endangered. Therefore, we should protect the environment and support population planning to prevent disasters.

This book is about the biology discipline of Science. I have learnt about biological engineering, evolution and genetics after I read the book.

When I was reading this book, some questions, including:

1.Is the idea of natural selection fully correct?

2.Does stopping criminals to reproduce help reducing crime numbers?

came to my mind. I need to read online newspapers to answer them. For the first question, an article from the Guardian said that there are some problems in the theory. Some scientists did an experiment. They put some chickens in a stressful environment and it caused their ability to find food in a maze decreased. Then they put their offspring in a non stressful environment. Surprisingly, the offspring’s ability of finding food in a maze did not increase. This proved that some species may not adapt to the environment. For the second question, there are no websites related so I can not answer.

I used to think that animals cannot reproduce until becoming an adult, but after I read this book, I found out that a kind of salamander retains its larval form in its whole life and can reproduce without being an adult.

I think this book has a rich content because it provides detailed information about genetics. I would recommend this book to my friends because this is related to our Science textbooks and it will make your eyes wide opened.