Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation-Building and a History Denied
by Toby Dodge
Category: History

This is the story of how three men won the Nobel prize for their research on the humble nematode worm C. elegans and how their extraordinary discovery led to the sequencing of the human genome and the birth of a global multi-billion-dollar industry. In 1998 the nematode worm---perhaps the most intensively studied animal on earth---was the first multicellular organism ever to have its genome sequenced and its DNA mapped and read. Four years later, the research that led to this extraordinary event garnered three scientists a Nobel Prize. Along with Robert Horvitz and Sydney Brenner, John Sulston discovered the phenomenon of programmed cell death in the worm, an essential concept that explains how biological development occurs in animal life and, as Horvitz later showed, how it occurs in human life. But this story is about more than just the worm. It is about how an eccentric group of impassioned scientists toiled in near anonymity for years, driven only by a deep passion for knowledge and scientific discovery. It recounts how hours of research and immense ambition resulted in one of the greatest discoveries in human history. "Brown's book traces the worm project from its inception, as fascinating for the obsessive, almost nerd-like quality of the researchers as for the unravelling of the worm's wormliness."---Guardian "Brown should be commended for making what may seem to be obscure, esoteric science both accessible and exciting."---Rachel Ankeny, American Scientist "What Brown does remarkably well in In the Beginning is to convey the passion, idealism, and cooperative spirit of the early worm workers."---Science "In an era when scientific storytelling has become commonplace, this book stands out for its lesson on independent thought....Brown clearly relates the perseverance and vision of the first generation of worm scientists that led to these accomplishments."---Catherine A. Wolkow and Mark P. Mattson, Journal of Clinical Investigation