The Genome War
How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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James Shreeve
About this listen
The long-awaited story of the science, the business, the politics, the intrigue behind the scenes of the most ferocious competition in the history of modern science - the race to map the human genome.
On May 10, 1998, biologist Craig Venter, director of the Institute for Genomic Research, announced that he was forming a private company that within three years would unravel the complete genetic code of human life - seven years before the projected finish of the U.S. government’s Human Genome Project. Venter hoped that by decoding the genome ahead of schedule, he would speed up the pace of biomedical research and save the lives of thousands of people. He also hoped to become very famous and very rich. Calling his company Celera (from the Latin for “speed”), he assembled a small group of scientists in an empty building in Rockville, Maryland, and set to work.
At the same time, the leaders of the government program, under the direction of Francis Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health, began to mobilize an unexpectedly unified effort to beat Venter to the prize - knowledge that had the potential to revolutionize medicine and society. The stage was set for one of the most thrilling - and important - dramas in the history of science.
The Genome War is the definitive account of that drama - the race for the greatest prize biology has had to offer, told by a writer with exclusive access to Venter’s operation from start to finish. It is also the story of how one man’s ambition created a scientific Camelot where, for a moment, it seemed that the competing interests of pure science and commercial profit might be gloriously reconciled - and the national repercussions that resulted when that dream went awry.
©2004 James Shreeve (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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No Better Time tells of a young, driven mathematical genius who wrote a set of algorithms that would create a faster, better Internet. It's the story of a beautiful friendship between a loud, irreverent student and his soft-spoken MIT professor, of a husband and father who spent years struggling to make ends meet only to become a billionaire almost overnight with the success of Akamai Technologies, the Internet content delivery network he cofounded with his mentor.
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An Overlooked Hero of 9-11
- By Jean on 05-27-16
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How to Survive a Plague
- The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
- By: David France
- Narrated by: Rory O'Malley
- Length: 24 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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A riveting, powerful telling of the story of the grassroots movement of activists, many of them in a life-or-death struggle, who seized upon scientific research to help develop the drugs that turned HIV from a mostly fatal infection to a manageable disease. Ignored by public officials, religious leaders, and the nation at large, and confronted with shame and hatred, this small group of men and women chose to fight for their right to live by educating themselves and demanding to become full partners in the race for effective treatments.
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Read This Book!
- By Kay M Hawklee on 05-30-17
By: David France
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The Chaos Imperative
- How Chance and Disruption Increase Innovation, Effectiveness, and Success
- By: Ori Brafman, Judah Pollack
- Narrated by: Drew Birdseye
- Length: 4 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Ori Brafman and management consultant Judah Pollack dramatically demonstrate how even the best and most efficient organizations - from Fortune 500 companies to today's US Army - can become more innovative by allowing a little unstructured space and "contained chaos" into their planning and decision-making. Through their consulting work, they realized that while structure and hierarchy are essential both in large corporations and small groups, too much of either can stifle creativity.
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a must read!!
- By Kelly Pavich on 05-26-19
By: Ori Brafman, and others
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The Idea Factory
- Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation
- By: Jon Gertner
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 17 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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In The Idea Factory, New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner reveals how Bell Labs served as an incubator for scientific innovation from the 1920s through the1980s. In its heyday, Bell Labs boasted nearly 15,000 employees, 1200 of whom held PhDs and 13 of whom won Nobel Prizes. Thriving in a work environment that embraced new ideas, Bell Labs scientists introduced concepts that still propel many of today’s most exciting technologies.
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Great story -- horrible pauses
- By Rodney on 01-29-13
By: Jon Gertner
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Tomorrowland
- Our Journey From Science Fiction to Science Fact
- By: Steven Kotler
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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New York Times, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, Discover bestselling author Steven Kotler has written extensively about those pivotal moments when science fiction became science fact...and fundamentally reshaped the world. Now he gathers the best of his best, updated and expanded upon, to guide listeners on a mind-bending tour of the far frontier, and how these advances are radically transforming our lives.
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Covers a lot of different topics in many industries
- By ErnieA on 06-27-15
By: Steven Kotler
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Sellout
- How Washington Gave Away America's Technological Soul, and One Man's Fight to Bring It Home
- By: Victoria Bruce
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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American technological prowess used to be unrivaled. But because of globalization, and with the blessing of the US government, once proprietary materials, components, and technologies are increasingly commercialized outside the United States. Nowhere is this more dangerous than in China's monopoly of rare earth elements - materials that are essential for nearly all modern consumer goods, gadgets, and weapons systems.
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Uncovering unsung heroes of modern America
- By Ben DeNardo on 08-24-17
By: Victoria Bruce
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101 Theory Drive
- A Neuroscientist's Quest for Memory
- By: Terry McDermott
- Narrated by: Stephen Hoye
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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It's not fiction: Gary Lynch is the real thing, the epitome of the rebel scientist - malnourished, contentious, inspiring, explosive, remarkably ambitious, consistently brilliant. He is one of the foremost figures of contemporary neuroscience, and his decades-long quest to understand the inner workings of the brain's memory machine has begun to pay off.
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Pretty Dang Funny
- By Will on 05-14-10
By: Terry McDermott
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Barbarians at the Gate
- The Fall of RJR Nabisco
- By: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Narrated by: Bryan Burrough, John Helyar
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Abridged
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Barbarians at the Gate has been called one of the most influential business books of all time, the definitive account of the largest takeover in Wall Street history. Bryan Burrough's and John Helyer's account of the frenzy that overtook Wall Street in October and November of 1988 gives us not only a detailed look at financial operations at the highest levels but a richly textured social history of wealth in the twilight of the Reagan era.
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Abridged and Poorly Read
- By Jake on 01-24-13
By: Bryan Burrough, and others
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Tuxedo Park
- A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II
- By: Jennet Conant
- Narrated by: John Kroft
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late 1930s, legendary financier, philanthropist, and society figure Alfred Lee Loomis gathered the most visionary scientific minds of the 20th century at his state-of-the-art laboratory in Tuxedo Park, New York. He established a top-secret defense laboratory at MIT and personally bankrolled pioneering research into new, high-powered radar detection systems that helped defeat the German Air Force and U-boats. With Ernest Lawrence, he pushed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to fund research in nuclear fission, which led to the development of the atomic bomb.
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Fantastic book, weak technical execution
- By Paul on 10-13-18
By: Jennet Conant
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Conspiracy of Fools
- A True Story
- By: Kurt Eichenwald
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 30 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Say the name 'Enron' and most people believe they've heard all about the story that imperiled a presidency, destroyed a marketplace, and changed Washington and Wall Street forever. But in the hands of Kurt Eichenwald, the players we think we know and the business practices we think have been exposed are transformed into entirely new, and entirely gripping, material.
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Great Story
- By Adam M Pokorski on 06-06-06
By: Kurt Eichenwald
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A Mind at Play
- How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age
- By: Rob Goodman, Jimmy Soni
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Claude Shannon was a tinkerer, a playful wunderkind, a groundbreaking polymath, and a digital pioneer whose insights made the Information Age possible. He constructed fire-breathing trumpets and customized unicycles, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots, but he also wrote the seminal text of the Digital Revolution. That work allowed scientists to measure and manipulate information as objectively as any physical object. His work gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass.
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I wanted more information about Information Theory
- By Bonny on 05-08-18
By: Rob Goodman, and others
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Dreamers and Deceivers
- True and Untold Stories of the Heroes and Villains Who Made America
- By: Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Jeremy Lowell
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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The new nonfiction from number-one best-selling author and popular radio and television host Glenn Beck.
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Astounding History stories gather life
- By Gil on 11-13-14
By: Glenn Beck
What listeners say about The Genome War
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- M
- 05-23-09
A great story, well told
"The Genome War" is the fascinating story of the race to sequence the human genome. Shreeve tells it perfectly, describing the principal players, reviewing the history and the science, covering the politics and the business. It "reads" like a crime novel, with similes right out of Raymond Chandler and narrative devices out of Elmore Leonard. The reader was perfect too.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jet Kohli
- 09-05-07
Mini Bio Mini Story
Well written, well read.. gets you thru the whirlwind world that was Celera... Good listen!.
The author, however, spends too much time describing faces, body contours and clothing choices of the players in this real story. Both sides of the battle are covered failry well.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Geoffrey
- 05-08-05
Great book for anyone interested in the industry
Written in a way that doesn't require you to be a Doctor to understand, the book gives an interesting glimpse into the science of genomics, the personalities that have shaped it, and the potential impact on humankind. The author really does a great job at making the book story-like rather than textbook-like, which makes the listen quite enjoyable and entertaining.
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3 people found this helpful
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- drowninginbooks
- 10-10-12
Wonderful book, beautifully read
Would you listen to The Genome War again? Why?
Yes! It's a great story and a great read. There's a lot of science here and wonderful characters, too. Very satisfying.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Craig Venter is a true giant of science, and you have to love his boldness and bluntness. He should have won the Nobel several times over by now. The fact that he hasn't is a bit of a scandal.
What about Grover Gardner’s performance did you like?
He understands what he's reading, and he gives it just the right touch of humor or irony when that's called for. A great voice. I never lost interest.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I listen in my car, but there were a number of times when I sat for a few extra minutes when I got where I was going. I wanted to keep listening -- but then I didn't want it to end!
Any additional comments?
I'm not in the habit of writing reviews, but I felt I had to for this book. It's just an excellent story, beautifully told, and beautifully read. I recently listened to Craig Venter's "My Life Decoded," which covers the same ground as this book, and I enjoyed it as well, but James Shreeve's treatment is a marvel of exposition. He has a genius for finding just the right metaphor for explaining difficult concepts in memorable -- and often funny -- images. And Grover Gardner's performance is superb, with just the right dash of irony when it's called for. If you're interested in genomics, or biology -- or science, for that matter -- I recommend this book very, very highly.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Anthony
- 05-18-04
An Excellent and Informative book
You learn not only about the science of the human genome but you learn about the competition that went on between the private sector and government funded projects. I found the story of Dr. Venter very interesting. After listening to this audio book I am eager to learn of new discoveries and new drugs that are made possible by the mapping of the human genome. Guess I'll have to get a subscription to Scientific American now.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- Philip
- 09-07-09
Fascinating account of a biological breakthrough
"The Genome War" is a fascinating audiobook on the race to sequence the human genome. James Shreeve has clearly done a lot of research and countless interviews to get the full story of the race to sequence and compile the human genome from all angles, and does an excellent job providing a background on the basics of genomics. The tale is reminiscent of a Shakespearean royal tragedy, with egos, pride, ambition, deception and greed playing a major role. Having worked in the life science industry, this was an intriguing story for me to hear. Even though the "Genome War" took place in the late 90's and very early part of this decade, the story is still very relevant today: Francis Collins is now the head of the NIH, and allegedly the purchase decisions of sequencers at some institutes are still based on "which side you were on" during the "Genome War". There are some downsides to the book: unclear style at the start (combination of flashbacks and chronological account), and an overload of biographical introductions of any possible player in the story (a description of the key protagonists would have been sufficient). It is probably advisable to choose the 6 hour abridged version over this 14 (!) hour unabridged version.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- A book reader
- 06-18-06
Great account of the Great Race
The author had fantastic access to Craig Venter for the writing of this book, and once you get a few chapters in it's hard to put down. A must read for anyone interested in the biggest science story in recent years, and a semi-biography of one of the most inventive, important scientists of our day, Venter.
Highly recommended. Best or the second-best book I have ever gotten from Audible (Washington's Crossing is the other.)
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Laurie
- 05-28-04
Fascinating but repetitive.
As a computer scientist in the trenches of the Genome Project, I found this a fascinating tale of personalities and science. Mr. Shreeve is a wonderful writer with a particular gift for metaphor, but I did find the book quite repetitive in its descriptions of the shotgun method of sequencing and the rancor between Celera and the government effort. I have listened to dozens of unabridged books and this is the first time I wish I had chosen the abridged version.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Max
- 12-17-18
great
e d d e d d e d e d e t re w g j y e w r h y e w rh u f wert
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- Neil
- 02-24-04
DNA/Microbiology 101
The book covers very the discovery and mapping of the human DNA sequence back to Mendel. I give it a 4/5 because it repeats its scientific facts several times during the story telling you as if it was the first time the item was mentioned, this caused it to drag.
If it were fiction, I would accuse it of being to political/emotionally charged? It?s stunning how far the government sector went in funding and rhetoric to ?win? the DNA sequence. It sheds light on the human side of science and discovery, it is unfortunate what that light reveals is greed.
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9 people found this helpful