Summary: The Genomics Age E-Book

BusinessNews Publishing

• Herausgeber: Business Book Summaries
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 40

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The must-read summary of Gina Smith's book: "The Genomics Age: How DNA Technology Is Transforming the Way We Live and Who We Are".

This complete summary of the ideas from Gina Smith's book "The Genomics Age" shows how genetic testing is currently being used in many ways in the medical sector; however, it is experiencing challenges with costs, ethics and patient rights. In this book, the author explains the progress in genomics and what we can expect for the future. This summary provides readers with an insight into the uses and development of genomic discovery and how this will affect all of us in the years to come.

Added-value of this summary:
• Save time
• Understand key concepts
• Expand your knowledge

To learn more, read "The Genomics Age" and discover the future of genomics in medicine, criminology, academic research and the economy.

Leseprobe

Book Presentation The Genomics Age by Gina Smith

Book Abstract

About the Author

Important Note About This Ebook

Summary of The Genomics Age (Gina Smith)

The Basics of the DNA Sciences

The Six Key Areas of DNA Research

The Challenges Ahead for DNA Commercialization

Book Presentation The Genomics Age by Gina Smith

Book Abstract

MAIN IDEA

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) was discovered in 1953 and fifty years later, the mapping of the human genome – specifying all the genes in the DNA of the human race – was completed. Genomics is the emerging science of understanding the human genome.

Without question, genomics will totally transform the entire structure of business and society in the near future, impacting directly on:

Medical treatments and diagnosis – with the promise that diseases will not only be treated but also prevented in the first place.Crimonlogy and genetic profiling – with DNA evidence testing proving the innocence of more than 144 people convicted of murders.Cancer research and anti-aging methodologies – with the hope the human life-span will be lengthened significantly.The economy – as universities and businesses pour billions of dollars into DNA-related fields

For all the inevitable hype that surrounds the emergence of the DNA sciences, the reality is DNA technology provides an almost incomprehensible array of near-term business opportunities. The challenge is to accurately anticipate the advances DNA research will bring and then position yourself and your firm advantageously.

“Predictions in science tend to be over-optimistic in the short run, but under-optimistic in the long run. I think that applies here, too. Wildly overstated expectations of immediate benefits and disease cures from the Human Genome Project helped fuel the biotech frenzy of the late 1990s, but no one I knew thought that these expectations had any chance of happening at such a rapid pace. When the investment bubble burst, some people began to complain the Human Genome Project was a failure and hadn’t paid off. But it was the outrageous predictions that failed and didn’t pay off. We will get there. It will happen. But not tomorrow or the next day. After all, it’s one thing to derive the three billion letters of the code accurately and publicly. We’ve done that. But it will now require the best and brightest brains on the planet to go to the next level of understanding.”

– Francis Collins, Human Genome Project Leader

About the Author

GINA SMITH is a science and technology journalist. Formerly with ABC News, she also writes an award winning column Inside Silicon Valley. She also has a weekly radio show On Computer with Gina Smith. Gina Smith is a graduate of Florida State University.

Gina Smith’s personal Web site is at:ginasmith.typepad.com.

Important Note About This Ebook

This is a summary and not a critique or a review of the book. It does not offer judgment or opinion on the content of the book. This summary may not be organized chapter-wise but is an overview of the main ideas, viewpoints and arguments from the book as a whole. This means that the organization of this summary is not a representation of the book.

Summary of The Genomics Age (Gina Smith)

The Basics of the DNA Sciences

Overall, the science of DNA is simple to grasp yet elegant. You don’t need an advanced science degree to understand it. All that is required is enough background information to be able to differentiate between the science and the hype.

1. A DNA Primer

DNA is an object, an actual molecule that takes up physical space. To gain some perspective of its size, consider these facts:

The human body has ten systems – nervous, muscular, skeletal, endocrine, digestive, respiratory, circulatory, immune, reproductive and excretory.Each of these systems has organs. For example, the stomach is an organ of the digestive system.Every organ is made up of cells.Every cell has a nucleus at its center.Every nucleus contains chromosomes – rod-like structures which resemble bundles of thread. All cells (except reproductive cells) have 23 pairs of chromosomes.Every chromosome has about six feet (approx. two meters) of DNA tightly coiled up inside it. If that DNA were unraveled and straightened, it would resemble a ladder. Sugars and phosphates form the side of the ladder and the rungs are formed up of different combinations of four bases – guanine (G), adenosine (A), thymine (T) and cytosine (C). These letters (called nucleotides) form the alphabet of DNA.A gene is made up of a given group of base pairs on a DNA molecule. Each cell typically has about 30,000 genes located throughout its 23 pairs of chromosomes.