The Impact of the Gene: From Mendel's Peas to Designer Babies

How genetics, and the technologies that arise from it, will affect the way we live in the twenty-first century

In the mid-nineteenth century, a Moravian friar made a discovery that was to shape not only the future of science but also that of the human race. With his deceptively simple experiments on peas in a monastery garden in Brno, Gregor Mendel was the first to establish the basic laws of heredity, laws from which the principles of modern genetics can be drawn. In this fascinating account, acclaimed science writer Colin Tudge traces the influence on science of Mendel's extraordinary ideas, from the 1850s to the present day, and goes on to ask what might happen in the coming century and beyond.

A comprehensive and entertaining work that combines scientific history with a compelling discussion on the future trends of genetic technologies, The Impact of the Gene examines how the ideas that underpin the spectrum of all genetic issues are interrelated, and proposes that with a basic understanding of Gregor Mendel's theories and discoveries, all modern genetics falls easily into place. From a monastery garden to the laboratories of the twenty-first century, The Impact of the Gene provides a vital overview of the science of genetics, at once "enjoyable and informative . . . readable and entertaining" (The New York Times Book Review).