Hood
By: Luke D. Timmerman ; edited by Tracy Cutchlow & Robert Simison
Contributors: Cutchlow, Tracy, editor; Simison, Robert, editor
Publisher: [publisher not identified]
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Place of publication not identified]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 425
ISBN-13: 9780997709308
Subjects: Biography; Geneticists
Description: Lee Hood did that rarest of things. He enabled scientists to see things they couldn't see before and do things they hadn't dreamed of doing. Scientists can now sequence complete human genomes in a day, setting in motion a revolution that is personalizing medicine. Hood, a son of the American West, was an unlikely candidate to transform biology. But with ferocious drive, he led a team at Caltech that developed the automated DNA sequencer, the tool that paved the way for the Human Genome Project. He captivated scientists with his almost religious fervor for the new biology enabled by the machines. Hood's brilliance, rebellion, enthusiasm, and ego earned him detractors as well as admirers. His management style, once described as "creative anarchy," alienated many. Some of his collaborators seethed, claiming he took too much credit. Fellow Caltech biologists charged that his empire building was out of control and ousted him as their chairman. A fraud in his lab made him consider, for a moment, quitting science. Wooed by money from Bill Gates, Hood started over at the University of Washington, creating the world's first Department of Molecular Biotechnology. Seven years later, his impatience for rules drove him to depart. He left at age sixty-one to start his own Institute for Systems Biology. Would he finally achieve the ultimate application of the genome project--personalized medicine?
Notes: Includes bibliographical references.
Table of contents: title: Mr. Gates, I quit; title: Growing up in big sky country; title: The golden boy of Shelby; title: Welcome to the big time; title: The making of a young biologist; title: A rising star for the biotech era; title: The first big machine; title: Building an empire; title: Competing for the big prize; title: The invention that sparked a revolution; title: The clash at Caltech; title: A fresh start in Seattle; title: New frontiers, bold promises; title: A messy divorce; title: Start-up days; title: A visionary, not a manager; title: Legacy of a scientific entrepreneur.