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螣 维谓胃蟻蠅蟺慰蟼 蟿慰蠀 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位: 螜蠂谓畏位伪蟿蠋谓蟿伪蟼 蟿伪 纬慰谓委未喂伪 渭喂伪蟼 蠂伪渭苇谓畏蟼 渭慰蟻蠁萎蟼 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺慰蠀
韦慰 尾喂尾位委慰 伪蠀蟿蠈 蟿慰蠀 魏慰蟻蠀蠁伪委慰蠀 纬蔚谓蔚蟿喂蟽蟿萎 危尾维谓蟿蔚 螤伪委渭蟺慰 蔚委谓伪喂 蟿慰 蠂蟻慰谓喂魏蠈 蔚谓蠈蟼 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺喂魏慰蠉 蟽蟿慰喂蠂萎渭伪蟿慰蟼: 谓伪 魏伪蟿伪蠁苇蟻蔚喂 谓鈥� 伪位位畏位慰蠀蠂萎蟽蔚喂 蟿慰 纬慰谓喂未委蠅渭伪 蟿慰蠀 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺慰蠀 蟿慰蠀 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位, 蔚谓蠈蟼 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰蠀蟼 蔚尉蔚位喂魏蟿喂魏维 蟺位畏蟽喂苇蟽蟿蔚蟻慰蠀蟼 蟽蠀纬纬蔚谓蔚委蟼 渭伪蟼.
螢蔚魏喂谓蠋谓蟿伪蟼 渭蔚 蟿畏 渭蔚位苇蟿畏 蟿慰蠀 DNA 蟽蔚 伪喂纬蠀蟺蟿喂伪魏苇蟼 渭慰蠉渭喂蔚蟼, 蟽蟿喂蟼 伪蟻蠂苇蟼 蟿畏蟼 未蔚魏伪蔚蟿委伪蟼 蟿慰蠀 1980, 慰 螤伪委渭蟺慰 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻维蠁蔚喂 蠈位畏 蟿畏谓 伪位蠀蟽委未伪 伪蟺蠈 蔚蠀蠂维蟻喂蟽蟿蔚蟼 魏伪喂 未蠀蟽维蟻蔚蟽蟿蔚蟼 蔚魏蟺位萎尉蔚喂蟼, 蟽蠀谓蔚蟻纬伪蟽委蔚蟼, 委谓蟿蟻喂纬魏蔚蟼, 伪蟺慰蟿蠀蠂委蔚蟼 魏伪喂 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿喂魏维 蔚蟺喂蟿蔚蠉纬渭伪蟿伪 蟺慰蠀 慰未萎纬畏蟽伪谓 蟽蟿畏 未畏渭慰蟽委蔚蠀蟽畏 慰位蠈魏位畏蟻慰蠀 蟿慰蠀 谓蔚伪谓蟿蔚蟻蟿维位喂慰蠀 纬慰谓喂未喂蠋渭伪蟿慰蟼 蟿慰 2010. 螠苇蟽伪 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏谓 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻伪蠁萎 伪蠀蟿萎 胃苇蟿蔚喂 魏伪喂 未委谓蔚喂 伪蟺伪谓蟿萎蟽蔚喂蟼 蟽蔚 渭喂伪 蟽蔚喂蟻维 伪蟺蠈 魏伪委蟻喂伪 蔚蟻蠅蟿萎渭伪蟿伪, 蠈蟺蠅蟼 蟺.蠂. 蟿喂 渭蟺慰蟻慰蠉渭蔚 谓伪 渭维胃慰蠀渭蔚 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏 渭蔚位苇蟿畏 蟿慰蠀 纬慰谓喂未喂蠋渭伪蟿慰蟼 伪蠀蟿蠋谓 蟿蠅谓 蔚尉蔚位喂魏蟿喂魏维 蟽蟿蔚谓蠋谓 蟽蠀纬纬蔚谓蠋谓 渭伪蟼, 纬喂伪蟿委 慰 蟽蠉纬蠂蟻慰谓慰蟼 维谓胃蟻蠅蟺慰蟼 蔚蟺喂尾委蠅蟽蔚 蔚谓蠋 慰喂 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 蔚尉伪蠁伪谓委蟽蟿畏魏伪谓, 萎 伪谓 慰 螚omo sapiens 未喂伪蟽蟿伪蠀蟻蠋胃畏魏蔚 渭伪味委 蟿慰蠀蟼.
惟蟽蟿蠈蟽慰, 慰 螤伪委渭蟺慰 未蔚谓 蟽蟿伪渭伪蟿维 蔚魏蔚委. 螚 伪蠁萎纬畏蟽萎 蟿慰蠀 未蔚谓 蔚委谓伪喂 畏 渭慰谓慰蟽萎渭伪谓蟿畏 魏伪蟿伪纬蟻伪蠁萎 蔚谓蠈蟼 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏慰蠉 魏伪喂 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿喂魏慰蠉 胃蟻喂维渭尾慰蠀: 蟻委蠂谓蔚喂 蔚蟺委蟽畏蟼 维蟺位蔚蟿慰 蠁蠅蟼 蟽蟿慰 蟿喂 蟽畏渭伪委谓蔚喂 谓伪 魏维谓蔚喂 魏伪谓蔚委蟼 苇蟻蔚蠀谓伪 伪喂蠂渭萎蟼 蟽蟿畏谓 蔚蟺慰蠂萎 渭伪蟼, 蟺蠋蟼 伪蠀蟿萎 慰蟻纬伪谓蠋谓蔚蟿伪喂 魏伪喂 蟺蠋蟼 蠂蟻畏渭伪蟿慰未慰蟿蔚委蟿伪喂, 蟺慰喂伪 蔚委谓伪喂 畏 魏伪胃畏渭蔚蟻喂谓蠈蟿畏蟿伪 蟿慰蠀 蔚蟺伪纬纬蔚位渭伪蟿委伪 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿萎, 伪位位维 蟺维谓蠅 伪蟺鈥� 蠈位伪 蟿喂 魏蠈蟽蟿慰蟼 苇蠂蔚喂 纬喂鈥� 伪蠀蟿蠈谓 蟽蔚 蔚蟺委蟺蔚未慰 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺喂魏萎蟼 味蠅萎蟼, 蟽蔚 蠁喂位委蔚蟼 魏伪喂 蟽蔚 未喂伪蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺喂魏苇蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼. 韦慰 尾喂尾位委慰 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻维蠁蔚喂 苇谓伪谓 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏蠈 伪纬蠋谓伪 未蟻蠈渭慰蠀, 伪蟺蠈 魏维胃蔚 维蟺慰蠄畏 蟽蠀谓伪蟻蟺伪蟽蟿喂魏蠈!
螢蔚魏喂谓蠋谓蟿伪蟼 渭蔚 蟿畏 渭蔚位苇蟿畏 蟿慰蠀 DNA 蟽蔚 伪喂纬蠀蟺蟿喂伪魏苇蟼 渭慰蠉渭喂蔚蟼, 蟽蟿喂蟼 伪蟻蠂苇蟼 蟿畏蟼 未蔚魏伪蔚蟿委伪蟼 蟿慰蠀 1980, 慰 螤伪委渭蟺慰 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻维蠁蔚喂 蠈位畏 蟿畏谓 伪位蠀蟽委未伪 伪蟺蠈 蔚蠀蠂维蟻喂蟽蟿蔚蟼 魏伪喂 未蠀蟽维蟻蔚蟽蟿蔚蟼 蔚魏蟺位萎尉蔚喂蟼, 蟽蠀谓蔚蟻纬伪蟽委蔚蟼, 委谓蟿蟻喂纬魏蔚蟼, 伪蟺慰蟿蠀蠂委蔚蟼 魏伪喂 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿喂魏维 蔚蟺喂蟿蔚蠉纬渭伪蟿伪 蟺慰蠀 慰未萎纬畏蟽伪谓 蟽蟿畏 未畏渭慰蟽委蔚蠀蟽畏 慰位蠈魏位畏蟻慰蠀 蟿慰蠀 谓蔚伪谓蟿蔚蟻蟿维位喂慰蠀 纬慰谓喂未喂蠋渭伪蟿慰蟼 蟿慰 2010. 螠苇蟽伪 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏谓 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻伪蠁萎 伪蠀蟿萎 胃苇蟿蔚喂 魏伪喂 未委谓蔚喂 伪蟺伪谓蟿萎蟽蔚喂蟼 蟽蔚 渭喂伪 蟽蔚喂蟻维 伪蟺蠈 魏伪委蟻喂伪 蔚蟻蠅蟿萎渭伪蟿伪, 蠈蟺蠅蟼 蟺.蠂. 蟿喂 渭蟺慰蟻慰蠉渭蔚 谓伪 渭维胃慰蠀渭蔚 伪蟺蠈 蟿畏 渭蔚位苇蟿畏 蟿慰蠀 纬慰谓喂未喂蠋渭伪蟿慰蟼 伪蠀蟿蠋谓 蟿蠅谓 蔚尉蔚位喂魏蟿喂魏维 蟽蟿蔚谓蠋谓 蟽蠀纬纬蔚谓蠋谓 渭伪蟼, 纬喂伪蟿委 慰 蟽蠉纬蠂蟻慰谓慰蟼 维谓胃蟻蠅蟺慰蟼 蔚蟺喂尾委蠅蟽蔚 蔚谓蠋 慰喂 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 蔚尉伪蠁伪谓委蟽蟿畏魏伪谓, 萎 伪谓 慰 螚omo sapiens 未喂伪蟽蟿伪蠀蟻蠋胃畏魏蔚 渭伪味委 蟿慰蠀蟼.
惟蟽蟿蠈蟽慰, 慰 螤伪委渭蟺慰 未蔚谓 蟽蟿伪渭伪蟿维 蔚魏蔚委. 螚 伪蠁萎纬畏蟽萎 蟿慰蠀 未蔚谓 蔚委谓伪喂 畏 渭慰谓慰蟽萎渭伪谓蟿畏 魏伪蟿伪纬蟻伪蠁萎 蔚谓蠈蟼 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏慰蠉 魏伪喂 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿喂魏慰蠉 胃蟻喂维渭尾慰蠀: 蟻委蠂谓蔚喂 蔚蟺委蟽畏蟼 维蟺位蔚蟿慰 蠁蠅蟼 蟽蟿慰 蟿喂 蟽畏渭伪委谓蔚喂 谓伪 魏维谓蔚喂 魏伪谓蔚委蟼 苇蟻蔚蠀谓伪 伪喂蠂渭萎蟼 蟽蟿畏谓 蔚蟺慰蠂萎 渭伪蟼, 蟺蠋蟼 伪蠀蟿萎 慰蟻纬伪谓蠋谓蔚蟿伪喂 魏伪喂 蟺蠋蟼 蠂蟻畏渭伪蟿慰未慰蟿蔚委蟿伪喂, 蟺慰喂伪 蔚委谓伪喂 畏 魏伪胃畏渭蔚蟻喂谓蠈蟿畏蟿伪 蟿慰蠀 蔚蟺伪纬纬蔚位渭伪蟿委伪 蔚蟻蔚蠀谓畏蟿萎, 伪位位维 蟺维谓蠅 伪蟺鈥� 蠈位伪 蟿喂 魏蠈蟽蟿慰蟼 苇蠂蔚喂 纬喂鈥� 伪蠀蟿蠈谓 蟽蔚 蔚蟺委蟺蔚未慰 蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺喂魏萎蟼 味蠅萎蟼, 蟽蔚 蠁喂位委蔚蟼 魏伪喂 蟽蔚 未喂伪蟺蟻慰蟽蠅蟺喂魏苇蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼. 韦慰 尾喂尾位委慰 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻维蠁蔚喂 苇谓伪谓 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏蠈 伪纬蠋谓伪 未蟻蠈渭慰蠀, 伪蟺蠈 魏维胃蔚 维蟺慰蠄畏 蟽蠀谓伪蟻蟺伪蟽蟿喂魏蠈!
456 pages, Paperback
First published February 11, 2014
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11.8k people want to read
About the author
Svante P盲盲bo
4听books111听followersSvante P盲盲bo is a Swedish biologist specializing in evolutionary genetics. One of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. Since 1997, he has been director of the Department of Genetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.
In 2022, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution".
In 2022, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "for his discoveries concerning the genomes of extinct hominins and human evolution".
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 374 reviews
February 22, 2025
I must admit I was easily seduced by the title, being very curious about the Neanderthals, and didn鈥檛 even realize until I started it that this book is really about the science of extraction and sequencing of the Neanderthal DNA (yes, it鈥檚 basically in the title but I was too distracted by the 鈥淥oh, shiny!鈥� mention of Neanderthals to read it properly).
For a book titled 鈥淭he Neanderthal Man鈥� it actually has very little to do with Neanderthals. If you are curious about humanity long-extinct cousins, look elsewhere. It鈥檚 not that kind of a book. It鈥檚 not about them at all. What makes this book worth reading has nothing to do with the Neanderthals but rather with how science is done. Svante P盲盲bo and his team could have sequenced anything else other than Neanderthal genome (and he didn鈥檛 set out to decode Neanderthal genome initially in any case) and it still would have been a fascinating story of how modern science is done, how a new scientific field of paleogenetics is created out of knowledge and curiosity and thinking outside the box and embracing innovation.
(Interestingly, P盲盲bo never seems that concerned with what made Neanderthals different and what they were like but rather what made *us*, humans, what we are, different both from Neanderthals and our more distant ape cousins.)
P盲盲bo progresses from clandestine experiments of trying to extract DNA using store-bought calf liver and a lab microwave to the formation of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany (and apparently he鈥檚 responsible for that Institute having a sauna, in case you wondered). The assembling of the team, finding people whose strengths complemented each other, changing your collaborators when necessary, and seeing personality differences and ego clashes and colleagues becoming scientific rivals and vice versa 鈥� it鈥檚 a fascinating adventure in real science process. We see the messy side of science, the failed experiments, the mistakes and frustrations and excruciating waiting for meaningful results. There are detailed explanations and dense science paragraphs in science jargon, and all that nitty-gritty that at the same time seems both logical and accessible and yet often manages to sail right over my head no matter how hard I try to understand. Scientific progress has little to do with 鈥淓ureka!鈥� moments and much more with long work hours in experiments and perseverance and obsessive double- and triple-checking of your work and willingness to take your work into new directions which may be very different from the goals you set for yourself at the start.
I don鈥檛 particularly care about genetics, really (PCR takes me back to some undergraduate lab experience that I didn鈥檛 find all that interesting), and there were parts in P盲盲bo鈥檚 narrative that I thought were a bit unnecessary (some personal backstory and strong opinions about competitors I could have lived without), but it still captivated me precisely because of letting me see the process of science in the making and the rivalry and politics of science.
(Interesting thing P盲盲bo mentions is that way more men than women suspect they may be modern-day Neanderthals, probably because of the more male-appropriate, apparently, traits of robust built and supposed brutishness. Which says way more about our cultural biases than it can ever say about Neanderthals.)
And at the end, unexpectedly for me we get a chapter of discovery of the Denisovans鈥� DNA, and it鈥檚 mind-boggling that a single piece of a finger bone can expand our evolutionary cousin tree so much.
P盲盲bo got a Nobel Prize for his work, and it seems appropriate.
4 stars.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
Also posted on .
For a book titled 鈥淭he Neanderthal Man鈥� it actually has very little to do with Neanderthals. If you are curious about humanity long-extinct cousins, look elsewhere. It鈥檚 not that kind of a book. It鈥檚 not about them at all. What makes this book worth reading has nothing to do with the Neanderthals but rather with how science is done. Svante P盲盲bo and his team could have sequenced anything else other than Neanderthal genome (and he didn鈥檛 set out to decode Neanderthal genome initially in any case) and it still would have been a fascinating story of how modern science is done, how a new scientific field of paleogenetics is created out of knowledge and curiosity and thinking outside the box and embracing innovation.
(Interestingly, P盲盲bo never seems that concerned with what made Neanderthals different and what they were like but rather what made *us*, humans, what we are, different both from Neanderthals and our more distant ape cousins.)
P盲盲bo progresses from clandestine experiments of trying to extract DNA using store-bought calf liver and a lab microwave to the formation of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany (and apparently he鈥檚 responsible for that Institute having a sauna, in case you wondered). The assembling of the team, finding people whose strengths complemented each other, changing your collaborators when necessary, and seeing personality differences and ego clashes and colleagues becoming scientific rivals and vice versa 鈥� it鈥檚 a fascinating adventure in real science process. We see the messy side of science, the failed experiments, the mistakes and frustrations and excruciating waiting for meaningful results. There are detailed explanations and dense science paragraphs in science jargon, and all that nitty-gritty that at the same time seems both logical and accessible and yet often manages to sail right over my head no matter how hard I try to understand. Scientific progress has little to do with 鈥淓ureka!鈥� moments and much more with long work hours in experiments and perseverance and obsessive double- and triple-checking of your work and willingness to take your work into new directions which may be very different from the goals you set for yourself at the start.
鈥淪cience is far from the objective and impartial search for incontrovertible truths that nonscientists might imagine. It is, in fact, a social endeavor where dominating personalities and disciples of often defunct yet influential scholars determine what is 鈥渃ommon knowledge.鈥�
I don鈥檛 particularly care about genetics, really (PCR takes me back to some undergraduate lab experience that I didn鈥檛 find all that interesting), and there were parts in P盲盲bo鈥檚 narrative that I thought were a bit unnecessary (some personal backstory and strong opinions about competitors I could have lived without), but it still captivated me precisely because of letting me see the process of science in the making and the rivalry and politics of science.
(Interesting thing P盲盲bo mentions is that way more men than women suspect they may be modern-day Neanderthals, probably because of the more male-appropriate, apparently, traits of robust built and supposed brutishness. Which says way more about our cultural biases than it can ever say about Neanderthals.)
And at the end, unexpectedly for me we get a chapter of discovery of the Denisovans鈥� DNA, and it鈥檚 mind-boggling that a single piece of a finger bone can expand our evolutionary cousin tree so much.
P盲盲bo got a Nobel Prize for his work, and it seems appropriate.
4 stars.
鈥斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌斺赌�
Also posted on .
May 4, 2014
Good science writing by the actual scientist, always a plus. Part autobiography, part earnest attempts to guide the reader accurately through all the complex steps by which such genetic work is actually done. (And also to show the equally complex social networks through which science is done.)
I had enjoyed hitting up 23andme last year for its estimate of my own personal percentage of "Neanderthal genome". (I was very close to the European average, unsurprisingly.) It was fascinating to see where that option really all came from. And rather stunning, in a science-fictional way, how soon such gene-scanning became available to the general public, which is a new thing in the world.
I must say, it was also deeply amusing to me, when the news of Neanderthal gene-crossing into modern humans first came out a while back, just how fast all the artists' representations of Neanderthals were upgraded.
I love this sort of stuff.
Ta, L.
February 7, 2018
I have a friend who is a science professor and we attend a book group together. A few years back he suggested the book Spillover by David Quammen and I found that its impact on me was tremendous. I appreciate those who are battling the next series of pandemics we will face (some a lot worse than the current influenza season). [my review can be found here /review/show... ]
I had the same anticipation when he recommended this book by Svanto Paabo. My GR friend Jean describes it as more a memoir than a science book. I feel the same but this book comes with plenty of technical jargon that only a genetic scientist could love.
Speaking of genetics, I have found the subject fascinating for a long time, but it is clear from this book that those who work in the field have to have some very deep skill sets in order to gain further insights. Paabo has been hard at work for several decades in digging out the secrets from the DNA of extinct species. He calls his specialty, 鈥渁ncient DNA.鈥� His focus eventually turned to other members of our primate 鈥渢ree.鈥�
He and his team have been responsible for some key insights into Neanderthal man and the relationship of that line of development to Homo Sapiens. Those of you who have had your own DNA evaluated may have found that your DNA contains a percent or two of Neanderthal DNA. That data proves one of the insights that Paabo was responsible for confirming: Our species and Neanderthals actually interacted and produced offspring during their common time on Earth. This and other insights are scattered through this book.
Whether you find this book to your liking may depend on how much information you want about Paabo鈥檚 associates, competitors and the culture of advanced degree academia. Or, it may be how much you are attracted to or daunted by the language of the subject. Paabo is not as talented as Quammen at putting concepts and procedures in layman鈥檚 language. Here are some examples to test your reaction:
鈥淲hen Johannes made libraries from the extracts, he applied one of Adrian Brigg鈥檚 innovations to deal with the chemical damage that changed C nucleotides in the DNA to U nucleotides.鈥�
鈥淭he comment was fun to write but also somewhat bitter, given that studies such as the Utah one had become a constant feature of the ancient DNA field. The problem of high-profile but dubious results still plagues research on ancient DNA today. As my students and postdocs have often remarked to me, it is easy to generate outlandish results with the PCR but difficult to show that they are correct鈥︹€�
鈥淲hen he looked at divergence of the Denisova DNA sequences from the human and Neanderthal genomes, he, like Nick , found that the Denisova genome shared more derived SNA alleles with the Neanderthal genome than with modern humans. 鈥�
Paabo鈥檚 work is exciting and I learned a lot about it and about the field, including that there is a panel of DNA available that is a collection from 938 humans from 53 separate populations around the world!
For me, less career musings and a more concerted effort on bringing the import of Paabo鈥檚 paradigm-shattering work to us lay people would have been welcome. I was just never swept away by the narrative in the way I expected to be.
I had the same anticipation when he recommended this book by Svanto Paabo. My GR friend Jean describes it as more a memoir than a science book. I feel the same but this book comes with plenty of technical jargon that only a genetic scientist could love.
Speaking of genetics, I have found the subject fascinating for a long time, but it is clear from this book that those who work in the field have to have some very deep skill sets in order to gain further insights. Paabo has been hard at work for several decades in digging out the secrets from the DNA of extinct species. He calls his specialty, 鈥渁ncient DNA.鈥� His focus eventually turned to other members of our primate 鈥渢ree.鈥�
He and his team have been responsible for some key insights into Neanderthal man and the relationship of that line of development to Homo Sapiens. Those of you who have had your own DNA evaluated may have found that your DNA contains a percent or two of Neanderthal DNA. That data proves one of the insights that Paabo was responsible for confirming: Our species and Neanderthals actually interacted and produced offspring during their common time on Earth. This and other insights are scattered through this book.
Whether you find this book to your liking may depend on how much information you want about Paabo鈥檚 associates, competitors and the culture of advanced degree academia. Or, it may be how much you are attracted to or daunted by the language of the subject. Paabo is not as talented as Quammen at putting concepts and procedures in layman鈥檚 language. Here are some examples to test your reaction:
鈥淲hen Johannes made libraries from the extracts, he applied one of Adrian Brigg鈥檚 innovations to deal with the chemical damage that changed C nucleotides in the DNA to U nucleotides.鈥�
鈥淭he comment was fun to write but also somewhat bitter, given that studies such as the Utah one had become a constant feature of the ancient DNA field. The problem of high-profile but dubious results still plagues research on ancient DNA today. As my students and postdocs have often remarked to me, it is easy to generate outlandish results with the PCR but difficult to show that they are correct鈥︹€�
鈥淲hen he looked at divergence of the Denisova DNA sequences from the human and Neanderthal genomes, he, like Nick , found that the Denisova genome shared more derived SNA alleles with the Neanderthal genome than with modern humans. 鈥�
Paabo鈥檚 work is exciting and I learned a lot about it and about the field, including that there is a panel of DNA available that is a collection from 938 humans from 53 separate populations around the world!
For me, less career musings and a more concerted effort on bringing the import of Paabo鈥檚 paradigm-shattering work to us lay people would have been welcome. I was just never swept away by the narrative in the way I expected to be.
February 6, 2018
I found this most interesting and fun book to read. It is written in the first person just as if Svanto Paabo was sitting beside the reader telling the story of how he mapped the genome. Some technical information is provided and explained but mostly he tells about himself and his colleagues and their work. The way the book is written keeps the reader engaged and enthralled with the story. The book reads like a memoir rather than a scientific book.
The story starts in 1981, when Paabo, a Swedish graduate student, became obsessed with ancient DNA. He extracted DNA from Egyptian mummies; at that time no one had any idea the desiccated flesh of mummies contained any genetic material. In this book Paabo reveals the three decades of research that led to the mapping of the Neanderthal genome. Toward the end of the book Paabo reveals in passing that he is the secret extramarital son of Sune Bergstrom, a well known biochemist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize.
The book is well written and is easy to read; all scientific technical information is simply explained for the lay person. I learned a lot about the Neanderthal and about DNA from the book as well as the workings of higher education politics. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Dennis Holland does a good job narrating the book.
The story starts in 1981, when Paabo, a Swedish graduate student, became obsessed with ancient DNA. He extracted DNA from Egyptian mummies; at that time no one had any idea the desiccated flesh of mummies contained any genetic material. In this book Paabo reveals the three decades of research that led to the mapping of the Neanderthal genome. Toward the end of the book Paabo reveals in passing that he is the secret extramarital son of Sune Bergstrom, a well known biochemist and co-winner of the Nobel Prize.
The book is well written and is easy to read; all scientific technical information is simply explained for the lay person. I learned a lot about the Neanderthal and about DNA from the book as well as the workings of higher education politics. I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. Dennis Holland does a good job narrating the book.
January 21, 2017
Ever since I had my DNA analyzed by 23andMe and they told me I am 2.6 percent Neanderthal I've wondered how that is possible. This book explains the complexities. It is written by the leader of the project who first sequenced Neanderthal DNA. This is a very recent occurrence and happened after modern homo sapien DNA was sequenced in 2003. Turns out the Neanderthal project team was as surprised as me that most humans contain DNA from an extinct creature. They weren't predicting this result. This book got really exciting as it neared the end and the team raced to publish their findings.
March 8, 2014
Svante Paabo, perhaps the most eminent paleo-geneticist in the world, has written a science blockbuster recounting the trail of his sequencing of the Neanderthal and Denisovans genomes. Not only has he given us an exciting story of discovery, competition, camaraderie and the world of science, but he has written it in language that the informed layperson can grasp.
Sequencing ancient DNA required a series of technological breakthroughs, each of which began as a mystery and ended with an innovation that solved it. Finding Neanderthal DNA required Paabo to convince a museum to part with enough bone to process into genetic "libraries." Only small fragments could be isolated for sequencing, so how could these be mapped against modern human DNA to identify similarities and differences? One of the pleasures of this book is Paabo's descriptions of each genetic puzzle and how a team of determined scientists met every Friday for years to work out how the pieces fit together.
Ultimately, Paabo's team at the Max Planck Institute succeed in isolating mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from Neanderthal bones and publish the genome in Science, a coup of the highest order. Along the way, it becomes clear that modern humans and Neanderthals were not only contemporaries in Europe and Asia, but they clearly mated and left progeny who have passed down Neanderthal DNA to modern humans. I myself was fascinated to learn that I share 3.3%of my DNA with Neanderthals.. But there is a coda. A tiny bone fragment from an ancient cave in Siberia turns out to belong to an even more ancient hominem--the Denisovans. Paabo's team, using their newly developed technological tools were able to rapidly sequence nearly 70% of the genome of a very young girl who died of unknown causes over 100,000 years ago.
This is a delicious book for the science lover and of special interest to anyone who shares Neanderthal genetic heritage.
Sequencing ancient DNA required a series of technological breakthroughs, each of which began as a mystery and ended with an innovation that solved it. Finding Neanderthal DNA required Paabo to convince a museum to part with enough bone to process into genetic "libraries." Only small fragments could be isolated for sequencing, so how could these be mapped against modern human DNA to identify similarities and differences? One of the pleasures of this book is Paabo's descriptions of each genetic puzzle and how a team of determined scientists met every Friday for years to work out how the pieces fit together.
Ultimately, Paabo's team at the Max Planck Institute succeed in isolating mitochondrial and nuclear DNA from Neanderthal bones and publish the genome in Science, a coup of the highest order. Along the way, it becomes clear that modern humans and Neanderthals were not only contemporaries in Europe and Asia, but they clearly mated and left progeny who have passed down Neanderthal DNA to modern humans. I myself was fascinated to learn that I share 3.3%of my DNA with Neanderthals.. But there is a coda. A tiny bone fragment from an ancient cave in Siberia turns out to belong to an even more ancient hominem--the Denisovans. Paabo's team, using their newly developed technological tools were able to rapidly sequence nearly 70% of the genome of a very young girl who died of unknown causes over 100,000 years ago.
This is a delicious book for the science lover and of special interest to anyone who shares Neanderthal genetic heritage.
December 16, 2017
A hard-to-put-down true-life science detective story about decoding the Neanderthal genome. Later chapters include Denisovans. Book ends in updated Postscript telling of the latest research on the FoxP2 language gene, and what happens to nice when they have the human version inserted into their genome.
November 16, 2014
Overall, this book did not completely live up to my expectations. While it was a fairly interesting premise, the author veered off track too often for me.
Author's Premise: Are we related to Neanderthal Man? If so, how?
Book's Structure: First 3rd is autobiographical. Second 3rd is heavily technical discussion of mitochondrial & ribosomal DNA- its extraction, viability and study. Final 3rd: interesting discussion of how we share certain genes with Neanderthals and how this possibly could have come to pass.
The good: If you are interested in the inner politics and workings of scientific discovery this books goes into great detail about this. The author proves pretty conclusively that we share DNA with ancient humans and has some plausible reasons why. The last third was the most interesting to me.
The bad: Author got side tracked by his own personal biography too often. The premise of the book did not drive the whole narrative.
Author's Premise: Are we related to Neanderthal Man? If so, how?
Book's Structure: First 3rd is autobiographical. Second 3rd is heavily technical discussion of mitochondrial & ribosomal DNA- its extraction, viability and study. Final 3rd: interesting discussion of how we share certain genes with Neanderthals and how this possibly could have come to pass.
The good: If you are interested in the inner politics and workings of scientific discovery this books goes into great detail about this. The author proves pretty conclusively that we share DNA with ancient humans and has some plausible reasons why. The last third was the most interesting to me.
The bad: Author got side tracked by his own personal biography too often. The premise of the book did not drive the whole narrative.
July 21, 2016
I really wanted to like this because it's by a scientist, but I can't honestly say this is a great read. The science is solid but there apparently isn't enough interesting to say about Neanderthal Man to carry a book. So the rest is filler about the author and the office politics of science and the names of the people who found the caves that the bones were in that he analyzed in his lab, etc., etc.
February 22, 2025
I've tried reading this book twice, and failed twice, finding it a fine sleep-aid. Not what I was hoping for! In person, Svante P盲盲bo is a really good lecturer, and he's done some pathbreaking paleogenomic research. But in this book, he couldn't tell a story that kept my attention. May just be me, but I gave up.
November 22, 2015
What a fascinating ride! From working on the genome itself, through the way research institutions work to the personality of Paabo himself.
The book is written very much in the same convention as The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World, which is about the competition between Venter and Collins to sequence the genome. Paabo's book has the same unabashed honesty about rivalry in the science world, but here it's not written by journalist about the scientist, it is written by the scientist himself. Loved it.
I would love all scientists to be like Paabo, actually. He seems really anal in his insistence on purity, repetition of results, checking everything trice, and he seems entirely trustworthy because of that.
Fascinating as well how much we can learn from a tiny fragment of bone of an individual human who had lived eons ago.
5+
The book is written very much in the same convention as The Genome War: How Craig Venter Tried to Capture the Code of Life and Save the World, which is about the competition between Venter and Collins to sequence the genome. Paabo's book has the same unabashed honesty about rivalry in the science world, but here it's not written by journalist about the scientist, it is written by the scientist himself. Loved it.
I would love all scientists to be like Paabo, actually. He seems really anal in his insistence on purity, repetition of results, checking everything trice, and he seems entirely trustworthy because of that.
Fascinating as well how much we can learn from a tiny fragment of bone of an individual human who had lived eons ago.
5+
December 27, 2014
This will be one of my top reads of 2014. This disarmingly frank tale of Paabo's thirty years at the cutting edge of historic DNA sequencing work as a tale of scientific pioneering, giving rare insight into the politics, money, rivalry, passion and innovation of modern science.
Paabo's frank, almost naive, tone can be cringeworthy at times - especially discussing his affair with a colleague, and you have to wonder how some of his colleagues feel about his well-meaning descriptions of them - but is always entertaining. He matter-a-factly discusses everything from realising your cost estimates were in the wrong currency, to the delicacy of ending long-term partnerships when the technology is better elsewhere, to navigating the iron curtain in the 1980s. The result is a very easy read that bridges the chasm between peer-review-is-foolproof and scientists-are-all-corrupt, to give you the warts and wonders of rapid scientific advances. Paabo includes a great deal of detail on the technological advances in gene sequencing, as well as a readable introduction to the main debates in the human origins field, but the detail never weighs the book down - it floats definitively in the relatively easy reading category of science books.
In the end, Paabo's narrative is the tale of the development of a key scientific field from a group of enthusiasts to a major research field producing Nobel prize winners. Parallel to this is the development of a young man who just wants to sample Mummy DNA into a Foundation head, a passionate young man into a comfortably happy father.
The book, as is the case with many I argue with on the reading, is one that has stayed with me, giving a real sense of the excitement of science, while never shirking the reality of collegial camps and rivalries, the endless struggle for financing and the corrupting influence of headline-grabbing media. This is science as it is really done, and emerges even more heroic for it.
Paabo's frank, almost naive, tone can be cringeworthy at times - especially discussing his affair with a colleague, and you have to wonder how some of his colleagues feel about his well-meaning descriptions of them - but is always entertaining. He matter-a-factly discusses everything from realising your cost estimates were in the wrong currency, to the delicacy of ending long-term partnerships when the technology is better elsewhere, to navigating the iron curtain in the 1980s. The result is a very easy read that bridges the chasm between peer-review-is-foolproof and scientists-are-all-corrupt, to give you the warts and wonders of rapid scientific advances. Paabo includes a great deal of detail on the technological advances in gene sequencing, as well as a readable introduction to the main debates in the human origins field, but the detail never weighs the book down - it floats definitively in the relatively easy reading category of science books.
In the end, Paabo's narrative is the tale of the development of a key scientific field from a group of enthusiasts to a major research field producing Nobel prize winners. Parallel to this is the development of a young man who just wants to sample Mummy DNA into a Foundation head, a passionate young man into a comfortably happy father.
The book, as is the case with many I argue with on the reading, is one that has stayed with me, giving a real sense of the excitement of science, while never shirking the reality of collegial camps and rivalries, the endless struggle for financing and the corrupting influence of headline-grabbing media. This is science as it is really done, and emerges even more heroic for it.
June 28, 2017
This book is less about Neanderthals themselves and more about the biological and technical details of extracting their long-extinct genomes from the preserved bones we鈥檝e found, and also about Svante P盲盲bo himself 鈥� it touches on his bisexuality, his moves between institutions, even his affair with a colleague鈥檚 wife. I could鈥檝e done without the personal info; it often felt like it was completely incidental to the extraction and sequencing going on in his teams. There were some interesting bits in the way his team worked together, and his decisions as the leader, but his affair with Linda Vigilant was entirely irrelevant.
Still, it鈥檚 a fascinating narrative taken as a whole, tracking the various theories, setbacks and new techniques Svante P盲盲bo and his team went through in finally extracting and sequencing the Neanderthal genome. There鈥檚 some coverage, too, of how it differs from the Homo sapiens genome and that of chimpanzees, and what that means in terms of phylogeny and the relationships in the family tree of human development. It also touches on some of the politics of science: rival groups, jockeying for funding, terminating partnerships which aren鈥檛 delivering what you hoped鈥� A reminder that you鈥檙e never gonna get away from politics of some sort, I suppose!
I found it deeply interesting and well explained, though I am a little disappointed that it was more of an autobiography of P盲盲bo鈥檚 working life than about Neanderthals and what we know about them because of his work.
Still, it鈥檚 a fascinating narrative taken as a whole, tracking the various theories, setbacks and new techniques Svante P盲盲bo and his team went through in finally extracting and sequencing the Neanderthal genome. There鈥檚 some coverage, too, of how it differs from the Homo sapiens genome and that of chimpanzees, and what that means in terms of phylogeny and the relationships in the family tree of human development. It also touches on some of the politics of science: rival groups, jockeying for funding, terminating partnerships which aren鈥檛 delivering what you hoped鈥� A reminder that you鈥檙e never gonna get away from politics of some sort, I suppose!
I found it deeply interesting and well explained, though I am a little disappointed that it was more of an autobiography of P盲盲bo鈥檚 working life than about Neanderthals and what we know about them because of his work.
March 25, 2014
Left at 40%. This is the type of book I would like for me to enjoy. I've always thought of myself as someone interested in science. I have also learned valuable details of how quickly DNA disintegrates and how difficult it is to extract ancient DNA without contaminating it. That's what most of the book that I've read was about. That and a few details of the author's life.
This is not a bad book. It just isn't what I need right now. I want some mind-numbing blood splatter to cool of my frazzled nerves. Not dusty Neandthertal bones. I want something which is easy to digest and which requires just enough brain cells to keep my mind off work - but not so many they exhaust my already depleted energy resources. Maybe I'll get back to this one day. More likely not.
This is not a bad book. It just isn't what I need right now. I want some mind-numbing blood splatter to cool of my frazzled nerves. Not dusty Neandthertal bones. I want something which is easy to digest and which requires just enough brain cells to keep my mind off work - but not so many they exhaust my already depleted energy resources. Maybe I'll get back to this one day. More likely not.
October 14, 2023
Exceptional. Immaculate. Quite simply one of the best popular science books by a scientist I鈥檝e read. Svante is widely regarded as a giant and inventor of paleogenetics, having made critical contributions to our understanding of human evolution. However, with his award of the Nobel Prize - his illustrious career had officially transcended the approbation of human geneticists - he now belonged to the small cadre of humanity鈥檚 most important thinkers. I had to read this book.
Initially, I thought this book would be akin to reading a popular-science rendition of the field of paleogenetics. In actuality, this is truly an autobiography in which Svante touches on his upbringing, sexuality, opinions of other scientists as well as the actual science of course. This is was a pleasant surprise. Most scientists are keen to limit their books on the science, and it was quite refreshing to see this book touch on the many disparate components of what makes a world class scientist. Curiosity, a keenness on collaboration, neuroticism, competitiveness and somewhat out of touch with the everyday world.
In 鈥淣eanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes鈥� - Svante Paabo has written a must-read for aspiring and current scientists or folks with a passing interest in science. This is a gripping read, and one in which you can run out of superlatives to describe.
Initially, I thought this book would be akin to reading a popular-science rendition of the field of paleogenetics. In actuality, this is truly an autobiography in which Svante touches on his upbringing, sexuality, opinions of other scientists as well as the actual science of course. This is was a pleasant surprise. Most scientists are keen to limit their books on the science, and it was quite refreshing to see this book touch on the many disparate components of what makes a world class scientist. Curiosity, a keenness on collaboration, neuroticism, competitiveness and somewhat out of touch with the everyday world.
In 鈥淣eanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes鈥� - Svante Paabo has written a must-read for aspiring and current scientists or folks with a passing interest in science. This is a gripping read, and one in which you can run out of superlatives to describe.
Read
October 26, 2022Svante Paabo is the recently crowned Nobel Prize Winner in Medicine. This book is his memoir, a fast-paced book which contains the nitty-gritty details of his thrilling intellectual adventure: his undergraduate in medicine, his fascination and early explorations of ancient Egyptian mummies' DNA extractions, his quests in the lab to genome-sequence Neanderthal DNA through PCR and other advanced methods, journeys to the American deserts to trap the live kangaroo rats and compare them with extinct ones, excursions into Croatian caves to witness Neanderthal remains, and much more. He walks the reader through the process of life in the lab, from the group meetings to resolve setbacks in amplifying DNA, through the actual methodology, through the publication process. This book also lets his personality shine through a bit, he speaks freely about his relationships, friendships and rivalries. [read 2/3 only]
December 2, 2022
By some fortuitous chain of events, one of my best friends will, fingers crossed, meet the Nobel Prize winners this year, P盲盲bo among them. Since I don't get to go, I felt it necessary to do some research until I could send her over with some questions so that she could make a complete and utter fool of herself on my behalf.
P盲盲bo is a fascinating man. His team is the one that studied and published the discovery of the Denisovan remains!! He got the idea to extract DNA from mummies before getting his doctorate in the 80s, and then spent a very long time figuring out how to get a lab clean enough not to get contaminated samples, and then even more time trying to get one that wasn't degraded.
In this book, you learn about the trial-and-error process of analysing ancient DNA until you get enough data to reach any significant conclusion. Both cooperation and rivalries fuel the geneticists, and the race to publish first is fraught with conundrums: publish before doing your due diligence and risk being proven wrong by your peers, wait too long and see another team scoop your discovery.
Oh, and if you've ever wondered why the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig has a sauna, it was his idea. I can't recommend this book enough.
P盲盲bo is a fascinating man. His team is the one that studied and published the discovery of the Denisovan remains!! He got the idea to extract DNA from mummies before getting his doctorate in the 80s, and then spent a very long time figuring out how to get a lab clean enough not to get contaminated samples, and then even more time trying to get one that wasn't degraded.
In this book, you learn about the trial-and-error process of analysing ancient DNA until you get enough data to reach any significant conclusion. Both cooperation and rivalries fuel the geneticists, and the race to publish first is fraught with conundrums: publish before doing your due diligence and risk being proven wrong by your peers, wait too long and see another team scoop your discovery.
Oh, and if you've ever wondered why the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig has a sauna, it was his idea. I can't recommend this book enough.
January 24, 2016
A few years ago, my partner and I went to a conference in Northern Japan where we had the luck to have dinner with a paleontologist. Excited, I asked her about the Neanderthals and she gave a quick, paranoid sweep of the dining hall before leaning in and whispering, "They're an ancestor."
"As in...direct?"
She nodded, before proceeding to unfurl a sorry, nefarious tale about "those people" at the Max Planck Institute who have a monopoly on the narrative and that's why we're not hearing the real story. Little did I know, but I'd just stumbled into the longstanding tiff between the multi-regionalists and those who support the out-of-Africa theory, between the paleontologists and paleo-geneticists. As a bitchy saber tooth tiger might say, "raaaaar!"
After reading this, you'll come down firmly on the side of "those people," if only because Paabo comes off as unceasingly rigorous and uncertain of his findings, even admitting in the last chapter that a tiny Siberian finger bone might have thrown the theories of both sides up in the air. I've never seen so much fretting over bacterial contamination, and it's absolutely riveting.
"As in...direct?"
She nodded, before proceeding to unfurl a sorry, nefarious tale about "those people" at the Max Planck Institute who have a monopoly on the narrative and that's why we're not hearing the real story. Little did I know, but I'd just stumbled into the longstanding tiff between the multi-regionalists and those who support the out-of-Africa theory, between the paleontologists and paleo-geneticists. As a bitchy saber tooth tiger might say, "raaaaar!"
After reading this, you'll come down firmly on the side of "those people," if only because Paabo comes off as unceasingly rigorous and uncertain of his findings, even admitting in the last chapter that a tiny Siberian finger bone might have thrown the theories of both sides up in the air. I've never seen so much fretting over bacterial contamination, and it's absolutely riveting.
March 30, 2016
This book provided a lot of technical detail about mtDNA, which was very enjoyable and educational. I am more familiar with nuclear DNA and was happy to gain a more in depth understanding of mtDNA while enjoying a great story. More surprising though was the amount of personal detail shared by the author. I loved his candid and matter-of-fact way of writing about his personal relationships and his interpretation of the politics that accompany academic competition. Great read.
June 6, 2024
螤蠈蟽慰 伪纬伪蟺蠋 蟿畏 蟽蔚喂蟻维 Vulgata 蟿蠅谓 蔚魏未蠈蟽蔚蠅谓 螤螘螝! 螒蟺蠈 蟿畏谓 蔚尉苇位喂尉畏 -蟺慰蠀 伪蟺' 蠈蟽慰 纬谓蠅蟻委味蠅 蔚尉伪魏慰位慰蠀胃蔚委 谓伪 渭畏 未喂未维蟽魏蔚蟿伪喂 蟽蟿伪 蟽蠂慰位蔚委伪- 魏伪喂 蟿畏 锟斤拷畏渭喂慰蠀蟻纬委伪 蠁伪蟻渭维魏蠅谓 苇蠅蟼 蟺喂慰 蔚尉蔚喂未喂魏蔚蠀渭苇谓伪 胃苇渭伪蟿伪 蠈蟺蠅蟼 蟿伪 伪蟺慰未畏渭畏蟿喂魏维 蟺慰蠀位喂维 蟿伪 尾喂尾位委伪 伪蠀蟿维 蔚委谓伪喂 蟺蟻慰蟽喂蟿维 蟽蟿慰谓 魏伪胃苇谓伪 伪魏蠈渭畏 魏伪喂 蟽蔚 渭喂魏蟻蠈蟿蔚蟻蔚蟼 畏位喂魏委蔚蟼 魏伪喂 魏伪位蠉蟺蟿慰蠀谓 维谓蔚蟿伪 伪蟻魏蔚蟿维 魏蔚谓维 蟿慰蠀 维胃位喂慰蠀 蔚魏蟺伪喂未蔚蠀蟿喂魏慰蠉 蟽蠀蟽蟿萎渭伪蟿慰蟼 蟿畏蟼 蠂蠋蟻伪蟼.
December 29, 2021
This book takes you on P盲盲bo's journey from grad student to renowned scientist as tirelessly continued his work in sequencing the genomes of early humans.
The book is written very personally, and it felt like he was a buddy telling you his life story over drinks, not just as a scientist talking about their hard work. He admits to faults and mistakes and friends and rivals and the politics of Sweden and Germany and Russia and everywhere across the world. He is very aware of the social and racial implications of his research but remains positive of the impact of his work.
There were also a lot of mentions of "new" technology that were coming out through the 80s, 90s, and beyond that enthralled me. It's one thing to read a history of the PCR machine, it's another to read first hand about P盲盲bo fighting for time to use one in Berkeley in the late 80s
Overall very interesting and fun memoir!
The book is written very personally, and it felt like he was a buddy telling you his life story over drinks, not just as a scientist talking about their hard work. He admits to faults and mistakes and friends and rivals and the politics of Sweden and Germany and Russia and everywhere across the world. He is very aware of the social and racial implications of his research but remains positive of the impact of his work.
There were also a lot of mentions of "new" technology that were coming out through the 80s, 90s, and beyond that enthralled me. It's one thing to read a history of the PCR machine, it's another to read first hand about P盲盲bo fighting for time to use one in Berkeley in the late 80s
Overall very interesting and fun memoir!
October 4, 2016
I was disappointed in this book. I learned very little about our present knowledge of Neanderthals, and a lot more than I wanted to about the author's personal life. He presented excruciating detail on the long process of getting support, funding, and various methods of extracting DNA. I also learned about his relationships, professional and private. Looking back at the title: Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes, I guess I should have figured it out. Apparently "Neanderthal Man" referred to the author himself and not to our ancient cousins.
Oh well, I chose poorly in terms of my interests. I finished the book, but I'm not sure it was worth it.
Oh well, I chose poorly in terms of my interests. I finished the book, but I'm not sure it was worth it.
December 17, 2014
Tremendous! Paabo does a great job at outlining the tedium and excitement of science. He happens to have made discoveries with his science that few other people can even dream of. A great read for those interested in genetics, human history, and knowing just how much Neanderthal/Human gene mixing occured.
January 4, 2020
Incre铆ble. No ten铆a ni la menor idea de toda la gesti贸n que puede vivir un hombre de ciencia con el fin de poder darnos algo que poder entender. Svante P盲盲bo, nacido en 1955, es un bi贸logo, que por cuestiones de la vida que es tan extra帽a y rara a veces, termin贸 entreg谩ndole a la humanidad un poco de entendimiento sobre s铆 mismo. La investigaci贸n 铆ntegra sobre la tasa de incidencia en el hombre moderno del Homo Neandertalensis y del hombre Denisovano.
Despu茅s de historias que relatan el trabajo t茅cnico (para lo cual agradezco mucho la coincidencia de primero haber le铆do ADN de James Watson), al igual que leer con toques personales toda la traves铆a de viajes para la obtenci贸n de diversas muestras de huesos y dem谩s, el producto final es la revisi贸n de un 煤nico art铆culo para ser publicado en Science o en Nature o en Cell, todo con el fin de aclarar las dudas de la humanidad sobre sus or铆genes.
El relato finaliza con la menci贸n del gen FOXP2, el cual se encuentra en el hombre neandertal y no en los chimpanc茅s, y de sobra en el hombre moderno; es el gen que est谩 ligado a la estructura del lenguaje. Por tanto, es muy probable que el hombre neandertal haya contado con una especie de mitos y rituales primitivos a aquellos del hombre moderno, lo cual explica por qu茅 los chimpanc茅s no han desarrollado un lenguaje propio. Es sumamente incre铆ble verlo desde este punto de vista, habi茅ndolo le铆do previamente a trav茅s de la pluma de James Watson, familiariz谩ndose con t茅rminos como la PCR (reacci贸n en cadena de la polimerasa), o con el SNP (poliformismo de nucle贸tido 煤nico), las prote铆nas b谩sicas, las cadenas de az煤car y fosfatos que las unen, la secuenciaci贸n, la replicaci贸n en bacterias, las librer铆as de interpretaci贸n, entre tantas cosas, es incre铆ble y no me imagin茅 alg煤n d铆a leer sobre estos temas y al menos conocerlos un poco m谩s. Empec茅 leyendo a Richard Dawkins, sin embargo, la lectura de Watson fue muy prol铆fica, de tal manera que logr贸 permitir una lectura clara y concisa de los logros realizados por este cient铆fico, Svante P盲盲bo, el mismo que al momento ha aparecido en diversas charlas de TED, en donde muestra claramente su jovial sentido del humor.
Despu茅s de historias que relatan el trabajo t茅cnico (para lo cual agradezco mucho la coincidencia de primero haber le铆do ADN de James Watson), al igual que leer con toques personales toda la traves铆a de viajes para la obtenci贸n de diversas muestras de huesos y dem谩s, el producto final es la revisi贸n de un 煤nico art铆culo para ser publicado en Science o en Nature o en Cell, todo con el fin de aclarar las dudas de la humanidad sobre sus or铆genes.
El relato finaliza con la menci贸n del gen FOXP2, el cual se encuentra en el hombre neandertal y no en los chimpanc茅s, y de sobra en el hombre moderno; es el gen que est谩 ligado a la estructura del lenguaje. Por tanto, es muy probable que el hombre neandertal haya contado con una especie de mitos y rituales primitivos a aquellos del hombre moderno, lo cual explica por qu茅 los chimpanc茅s no han desarrollado un lenguaje propio. Es sumamente incre铆ble verlo desde este punto de vista, habi茅ndolo le铆do previamente a trav茅s de la pluma de James Watson, familiariz谩ndose con t茅rminos como la PCR (reacci贸n en cadena de la polimerasa), o con el SNP (poliformismo de nucle贸tido 煤nico), las prote铆nas b谩sicas, las cadenas de az煤car y fosfatos que las unen, la secuenciaci贸n, la replicaci贸n en bacterias, las librer铆as de interpretaci贸n, entre tantas cosas, es incre铆ble y no me imagin茅 alg煤n d铆a leer sobre estos temas y al menos conocerlos un poco m谩s. Empec茅 leyendo a Richard Dawkins, sin embargo, la lectura de Watson fue muy prol铆fica, de tal manera que logr贸 permitir una lectura clara y concisa de los logros realizados por este cient铆fico, Svante P盲盲bo, el mismo que al momento ha aparecido en diversas charlas de TED, en donde muestra claramente su jovial sentido del humor.
October 8, 2022
K盲ndes passande att l盲sa klart denna som jag b枚rjade i Juni 2020 (m氓ste f氓 skryta). Fortfarande lika bra nu som d氓, men bra att jag l盲t den vila f枚r jag fick nog ut mycket mer av den idag 盲n f枚r tv氓 氓r sedan. Lite sv氓rl盲st men man f枚rstod de viktigaste sakerna och mycket till trots det. V盲ldigt intressant vad man kan g枚ra med en liten benbit, men det mest intressanta var forskningsmetoderna, hur de utvecklas, hur det 盲r att forska, vilken konkurrens som finns mellan universitet och forskningsgrupper etc. L盲sv盲rd!
May 9, 2023
This book could have been a masterpiece if only it had a better pacing. It had either pages bombarded with specs and scientific jargon, or pages of interesting (or not so, sometimes) events. Well, would't discard it it... but an editor should have taken better care of it.
***No disrespect to the writter and his achievements: what I said is about about the book and its "structure"***
Edit:
螆伪 尾喂尾位委慰 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 渭蟺慰蟻慰蠉蟽蔚 谓伪 蟿慰 伪蟺蠈位蠀蟿慰 伪蟻喂蟽蟿慰蠉蟻纬畏渭伪 纬喂伪 蟿慰谓 蔚蟻伪蟽喂蟿苇蠂谓畏 蔚谓未喂伪蠁蔚蟻蠈渭蔚谓慰 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 蟺伪位伪喂慰伪谓胃蟻蠅蟺慰位慰纬委伪 (魏伪喂 蔚喂未喂魏维 纬喂伪 蟿喂蟼 蟿蔚位蔚蠀蟿伪委蔚蟼 渭慰蟻蠁苇蟼 Homo Sapiens 蟺慰蠀 蟽蠀谓畏蟺萎蟻尉伪谓 渭蔚 蟿慰谓 Homo Sapiens Sapiensis -蔚渭维蟼 未畏位伪未萎, 蟽蔚 蟺蔚蟻委蟺蟿蠅蟽畏 蟺慰蠀蟺蟻苇蟺蔚喂 谓伪 尾纬维位蔚蟿蔚 蟿伪 蟺伪蟺慰蠉蟿蟽喂伪 纬喂伪 谓伪 渭蔚蟿蟻萎蟽蔚蟿蔚 蟺维谓蠅 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰 10). 螖蠀蟽蟿蠀蠂蠋蟼, 蠂维谓蔚喂 蟽蟿慰 蟻蠀胃渭蠈. 螝维蟺慰喂蔚蟼 蟽蔚位委未蔚蟼 蟿慰蠀 魏蠀蟻喂慰位蔚魏蟿喂魏维 尾慰渭尾伪蟻未委味慰谓蟿伪喂 渭蔚 蟺蟻慰未喂伪纬蟻伪蠁苇蟼 魏伪喂 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏萎 慰蟻慰位慰纬委伪, 蔚谓蠋 维位位蔚蟼 尾蟻委胃慰蠀谓 蔚谓未喂伪蠁蔚蟻蠈谓蟿蠅谓 (萎 蠈蠂喂 蟿蠈蟽慰, 渭蔚蟻喂魏苇蟼 蠁慰蟻苇蟼) 纬蔚纬慰谓蠈蟿蠅谓. 螞慰喂蟺蠈谓, 未蔚谓 胃伪 蟿慰 伪蟺苇蟻蟻喂蟺蟿伪... 伪位位维 苇谓伪蟼 蔚蟺喂渭蔚位畏蟿萎蟼 胃伪 苇蟺蟻蔚蟺蔚 谓伪 蔚委蠂蔚 蠁蟻慰谓蟿委蟽蔚喂 位委纬慰 魏伪位蠉蟿蔚蟻伪 蟿畏谓 伪蟻蠂喂魏萎 苇魏未慰蟽畏 (伪蟺蠈 蟿畏 渭蔚蟿维蠁蟻伪蟽畏 蔚委谓伪喂 位委纬慰 维魏慰渭蠄慰 魏伪喂 未蠉蟽魏慰位慰 谓伪 蟺伪蟻苇渭尾蔚喂蟼 蟽蟿畏 未慰渭萎 魏伪喂 未喂维蟻胃蟻蠅蟽畏 蔚谓蠈蟼 尾喂尾位委慰蠀).
螠蠈位伪 蟿伪蠉蟿伪, 魏伪喂 蟺伪蟻维 蟿慰 纬蔚纬慰谓蠈蟼 蠈蟿喂 慰蠀未蠈位蠅蟼 蔚谓未喂伪蠁苇蟻蔚喂 蟿慰谓 伪谓伪纬谓蠋蟽蟿畏 "蟺蠋蟼 蟿慰 蟿蟻委尾蔚喂 蟿慰 蟺喂蟺苇蟻喂" 慰 Svante (慰喂 伪谓伪蠁慰蟻苇蟼 蟽蟿畏谓 蔚魏蟿蠈蟼 苇蟻纬慰蠀 味蠅萎 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 蟿畏 蟽蔚尉慰蠀伪位喂魏蠈蟿畏蟿维 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 蟿喂蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼 蟿慰蠀 未蔚谓 蔚委谓伪喂 喂未喂伪委蟿蔚蟻伪 蠁蔚喂未蠅位苇蟼), 畏 喂蟽蟿慰蟻委伪 蟿慰蠀 蟺蠋蟼 "尉蔚蟿蠀位委蠂蟿畏魏蔚" 蟿慰 纬慰谓喂未委蠅渭伪 蟿慰蠀 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 魏伪喂 蟺蠋蟼 蔚尉蔚位委蠂胃畏魏蔚 畏 委未喂伪 畏 未喂伪未喂魏伪蟽委伪 蟿畏蟼 伪蟺慰魏蠅未喂魏慰蟺慰委畏蟽畏蟼 蟺慰蠀 尾慰萎胃畏蟽蔚 谓伪 蠁蟿维蟽慰蠀渭蔚 蟽蟿伪 蟽蠀渭蟺蔚蟻维蟽渭伪蟿伪 蟿慰蠀 蟽萎渭蔚蟻伪, 未蔚谓 伪蠁萎谓蔚喂 伪蟽蠀纬魏委谓畏蟿慰 蟿慰谓 伪谓伪纬谓蠋蟽蟿畏.
螝伪喂, 谓伪喂, 蔚蟺蔚喂未萎 螖螘螡 胃伪 渭蟺蔚委蟿蔚 蟽蟿慰谓 魏蠈蟺慰 谓伪 蟿慰 未喂伪尾维蟽蔚蟿蔚, 苇蠂蔚蟿蔚 渭苇蟽伪 蟽伪蟼 纬慰谓委未喂伪 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 螝螒螜 螡蟿蔚谓委蟽慰尾伪谓. 韦畏谓 蔚蟺蠈渭蔚谓畏 蠁慰蟻维 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 蟺蔚蟿维尉蔚蟿蔚 伪蟺慰蟻畏渭苇谓慰喂 蟿慰 蟽伪纬蠈谓喂 蟽伪蟼 渭蟺蟻慰蟽蟿维 尉蠉谓慰谓蟿伪蟼 伪蠁畏蟻畏渭苇谓慰喂 蟿畏 渭伪蟽蠂维位畏 蟽伪蟼, 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委蟿蔚 谓伪 蟿慰 伪蟺慰未蠋蟽蔚蟿蔚 蟽蔚 魏维蟺慰喂慰 伪蟿伪尾喂蟽渭蠈 蟺慰蠀 蟻伪纬委味蔚喂 蟿畏谓 渭苇蠂蟻喂 蟺蟻蠈蟿喂谓慰蟼 伪渭蠈位蠀谓蟿畏 "螝蟻慰 螠伪谓喂蠈谓" 蔚喂魏蠈谓伪 蟽伪蟼 蟽伪蟼 未喂伪渭苇蟽慰蠀 未蔚魏维未蠅谓 蠂喂位喂蔚蟿喂蠋谓.
螝伪喂, 谓伪喂, 蟿慰 蠈蟿喂 苇蠂蔚蟿蔚 纬慰谓委未喂伪 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位, 蟽畏渭伪委谓蔚喂 伪魏蟻喂尾蠋蟼 伪蠀蟿蠈 蟺慰蠀 谓慰渭委味蔚蟿蔚 蠅蟼 蟺蟻慰蟼 蟿喂蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼 蟿蠅谓 未蠉慰 "蠀蟺慰未蔚喂未蠋谓".
螘委谓伪喂 渭蔚纬维位慰 魏蟻委渭伪 蟺慰蠀 伪蠀蟿萎 畏 未喂伪蟺委蟽蟿蠅蟽畏 未蔚谓 苇纬喂谓蔚 蟺维谓蠅 蟽蔚 维蟻喂慰蠀蟼 螕蔚蟻渭伪谓慰蠉蟼 蟿畏蟼 蟺蔚蟻喂蠈未慰蠀 1933-1945... 胃伪 纬蔚位维纬伪渭蔚 伪魏蠈渭伪.
***No disrespect to the writter and his achievements: what I said is about about the book and its "structure"***
Edit:
螆伪 尾喂尾位委慰 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 渭蟺慰蟻慰蠉蟽蔚 谓伪 蟿慰 伪蟺蠈位蠀蟿慰 伪蟻喂蟽蟿慰蠉蟻纬畏渭伪 纬喂伪 蟿慰谓 蔚蟻伪蟽喂蟿苇蠂谓畏 蔚谓未喂伪蠁蔚蟻蠈渭蔚谓慰 纬喂伪 蟿畏谓 蟺伪位伪喂慰伪谓胃蟻蠅蟺慰位慰纬委伪 (魏伪喂 蔚喂未喂魏维 纬喂伪 蟿喂蟼 蟿蔚位蔚蠀蟿伪委蔚蟼 渭慰蟻蠁苇蟼 Homo Sapiens 蟺慰蠀 蟽蠀谓畏蟺萎蟻尉伪谓 渭蔚 蟿慰谓 Homo Sapiens Sapiensis -蔚渭维蟼 未畏位伪未萎, 蟽蔚 蟺蔚蟻委蟺蟿蠅蟽畏 蟺慰蠀蟺蟻苇蟺蔚喂 谓伪 尾纬维位蔚蟿蔚 蟿伪 蟺伪蟺慰蠉蟿蟽喂伪 纬喂伪 谓伪 渭蔚蟿蟻萎蟽蔚蟿蔚 蟺维谓蠅 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰 10). 螖蠀蟽蟿蠀蠂蠋蟼, 蠂维谓蔚喂 蟽蟿慰 蟻蠀胃渭蠈. 螝维蟺慰喂蔚蟼 蟽蔚位委未蔚蟼 蟿慰蠀 魏蠀蟻喂慰位蔚魏蟿喂魏维 尾慰渭尾伪蟻未委味慰谓蟿伪喂 渭蔚 蟺蟻慰未喂伪纬蟻伪蠁苇蟼 魏伪喂 蔚蟺喂蟽蟿畏渭慰谓喂魏萎 慰蟻慰位慰纬委伪, 蔚谓蠋 维位位蔚蟼 尾蟻委胃慰蠀谓 蔚谓未喂伪蠁蔚蟻蠈谓蟿蠅谓 (萎 蠈蠂喂 蟿蠈蟽慰, 渭蔚蟻喂魏苇蟼 蠁慰蟻苇蟼) 纬蔚纬慰谓蠈蟿蠅谓. 螞慰喂蟺蠈谓, 未蔚谓 胃伪 蟿慰 伪蟺苇蟻蟻喂蟺蟿伪... 伪位位维 苇谓伪蟼 蔚蟺喂渭蔚位畏蟿萎蟼 胃伪 苇蟺蟻蔚蟺蔚 谓伪 蔚委蠂蔚 蠁蟻慰谓蟿委蟽蔚喂 位委纬慰 魏伪位蠉蟿蔚蟻伪 蟿畏谓 伪蟻蠂喂魏萎 苇魏未慰蟽畏 (伪蟺蠈 蟿畏 渭蔚蟿维蠁蟻伪蟽畏 蔚委谓伪喂 位委纬慰 维魏慰渭蠄慰 魏伪喂 未蠉蟽魏慰位慰 谓伪 蟺伪蟻苇渭尾蔚喂蟼 蟽蟿畏 未慰渭萎 魏伪喂 未喂维蟻胃蟻蠅蟽畏 蔚谓蠈蟼 尾喂尾位委慰蠀).
螠蠈位伪 蟿伪蠉蟿伪, 魏伪喂 蟺伪蟻维 蟿慰 纬蔚纬慰谓蠈蟼 蠈蟿喂 慰蠀未蠈位蠅蟼 蔚谓未喂伪蠁苇蟻蔚喂 蟿慰谓 伪谓伪纬谓蠋蟽蟿畏 "蟺蠋蟼 蟿慰 蟿蟻委尾蔚喂 蟿慰 蟺喂蟺苇蟻喂" 慰 Svante (慰喂 伪谓伪蠁慰蟻苇蟼 蟽蟿畏谓 蔚魏蟿蠈蟼 苇蟻纬慰蠀 味蠅萎 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 蟿畏 蟽蔚尉慰蠀伪位喂魏蠈蟿畏蟿维 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 蟿喂蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼 蟿慰蠀 未蔚谓 蔚委谓伪喂 喂未喂伪委蟿蔚蟻伪 蠁蔚喂未蠅位苇蟼), 畏 喂蟽蟿慰蟻委伪 蟿慰蠀 蟺蠋蟼 "尉蔚蟿蠀位委蠂蟿畏魏蔚" 蟿慰 纬慰谓喂未委蠅渭伪 蟿慰蠀 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 魏伪喂 蟺蠋蟼 蔚尉蔚位委蠂胃畏魏蔚 畏 委未喂伪 畏 未喂伪未喂魏伪蟽委伪 蟿畏蟼 伪蟺慰魏蠅未喂魏慰蟺慰委畏蟽畏蟼 蟺慰蠀 尾慰萎胃畏蟽蔚 谓伪 蠁蟿维蟽慰蠀渭蔚 蟽蟿伪 蟽蠀渭蟺蔚蟻维蟽渭伪蟿伪 蟿慰蠀 蟽萎渭蔚蟻伪, 未蔚谓 伪蠁萎谓蔚喂 伪蟽蠀纬魏委谓畏蟿慰 蟿慰谓 伪谓伪纬谓蠋蟽蟿畏.
螝伪喂, 谓伪喂, 蔚蟺蔚喂未萎 螖螘螡 胃伪 渭蟺蔚委蟿蔚 蟽蟿慰谓 魏蠈蟺慰 谓伪 蟿慰 未喂伪尾维蟽蔚蟿蔚, 苇蠂蔚蟿蔚 渭苇蟽伪 蟽伪蟼 纬慰谓委未喂伪 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位 螝螒螜 螡蟿蔚谓委蟽慰尾伪谓. 韦畏谓 蔚蟺蠈渭蔚谓畏 蠁慰蟻维 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 蟺蔚蟿维尉蔚蟿蔚 伪蟺慰蟻畏渭苇谓慰喂 蟿慰 蟽伪纬蠈谓喂 蟽伪蟼 渭蟺蟻慰蟽蟿维 尉蠉谓慰谓蟿伪蟼 伪蠁畏蟻畏渭苇谓慰喂 蟿畏 渭伪蟽蠂维位畏 蟽伪蟼, 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委蟿蔚 谓伪 蟿慰 伪蟺慰未蠋蟽蔚蟿蔚 蟽蔚 魏维蟺慰喂慰 伪蟿伪尾喂蟽渭蠈 蟺慰蠀 蟻伪纬委味蔚喂 蟿畏谓 渭苇蠂蟻喂 蟺蟻蠈蟿喂谓慰蟼 伪渭蠈位蠀谓蟿畏 "螝蟻慰 螠伪谓喂蠈谓" 蔚喂魏蠈谓伪 蟽伪蟼 蟽伪蟼 未喂伪渭苇蟽慰蠀 未蔚魏维未蠅谓 蠂喂位喂蔚蟿喂蠋谓.
螝伪喂, 谓伪喂, 蟿慰 蠈蟿喂 苇蠂蔚蟿蔚 纬慰谓委未喂伪 螡蔚维谓蟿蔚蟻蟿伪位, 蟽畏渭伪委谓蔚喂 伪魏蟻喂尾蠋蟼 伪蠀蟿蠈 蟺慰蠀 谓慰渭委味蔚蟿蔚 蠅蟼 蟺蟻慰蟼 蟿喂蟼 蟽蠂苇蟽蔚喂蟼 蟿蠅谓 未蠉慰 "蠀蟺慰未蔚喂未蠋谓".
螘委谓伪喂 渭蔚纬维位慰 魏蟻委渭伪 蟺慰蠀 伪蠀蟿萎 畏 未喂伪蟺委蟽蟿蠅蟽畏 未蔚谓 苇纬喂谓蔚 蟺维谓蠅 蟽蔚 维蟻喂慰蠀蟼 螕蔚蟻渭伪谓慰蠉蟼 蟿畏蟼 蟺蔚蟻喂蠈未慰蠀 1933-1945... 胃伪 纬蔚位维纬伪渭蔚 伪魏蠈渭伪.
June 28, 2017
The content relating to genetics and biology was very interesting. The sometimes jarringly out-of-place commentary about the author's personal life was less so. As an example, was a summary of each item eaten at a specific dinner really necessary? These random insertions intruded on the main points being made; in the end I finished this book for the sole purpose of having an extra title to add to my reading challenge goal
August 7, 2020
鈥徺勜Ｙ堎� 賲乇丞 兀胤賱毓 毓賱賶 丕賱鬲賮丕氐賷賱 丕賱丿丕禺賱賷丞 賱賱亘丨孬 丕賱毓賱賲賷 賵賰賷賮 賷噩乇賷 丕賱毓賱賲 丕賱丨賯賷賯賷 賵賰賷賮 鬲購噩乇賶 丕賱丕賰鬲卮丕賮丕鬲 丕賱賰亘乇賶.
鈥徹з勝冐ж� 賷賲賳丨賳丕 乇丐賷丞 賱賲丕 賷丨丿孬 禺賱賮 賰賵丕賱賷爻 丕賱丨賷丕丞 丕賱賲賴賳賷丞 賵丕賱毓賱賲賷丞 賱賲卮丕乇賷毓 丕賱毓賱賲丕亍貙 賮丕賱賯賷丕賲 亘毓賲賱 毓賱賲賷 丨丿賷孬 賵毓丕賱賷 丕賱賲爻鬲賵賶 賱賷爻 亘丕賱卮賷亍 丕賱毓丕丿賷 賰賲丕 賷毓鬲賯丿 丕賱亘毓囟貙 毓賲賱 卮丕賯貙 賵卮丕賯 賱賱睾丕賷丞 ..
兀賳氐丨 亘賴 賵亘賯賵丞 賮賴賵 賲孬賷乇 噩丿賸丕 賱賱賲賴鬲賲賷賳 亘丕賱毓賱賲 賵丕賱亘丨孬 丕賱毓賱賲賷 ..
鈥徹з勝冐ж� 賷賲賳丨賳丕 乇丐賷丞 賱賲丕 賷丨丿孬 禺賱賮 賰賵丕賱賷爻 丕賱丨賷丕丞 丕賱賲賴賳賷丞 賵丕賱毓賱賲賷丞 賱賲卮丕乇賷毓 丕賱毓賱賲丕亍貙 賮丕賱賯賷丕賲 亘毓賲賱 毓賱賲賷 丨丿賷孬 賵毓丕賱賷 丕賱賲爻鬲賵賶 賱賷爻 亘丕賱卮賷亍 丕賱毓丕丿賷 賰賲丕 賷毓鬲賯丿 丕賱亘毓囟貙 毓賲賱 卮丕賯貙 賵卮丕賯 賱賱睾丕賷丞 ..
兀賳氐丨 亘賴 賵亘賯賵丞 賮賴賵 賲孬賷乇 噩丿賸丕 賱賱賲賴鬲賲賷賳 亘丕賱毓賱賲 賵丕賱亘丨孬 丕賱毓賱賲賷 ..
July 6, 2022
Hay un momento en que hay que ser brutal y despiadadamente honesto. El hombre de Neandertal no va sobre el hombre de Neandertal. La contraportada lo aclara, pese a lo falaz del t铆tulo. Este ensayo trata sobre como se secuenci贸 el genoma de nuestro extinto pariente. Su descubrimiento es sugerente en tanto que pariente nuestro, nada m谩s. Con esto me refiero a que todo el ensayo gira en torno a qu茅 t茅cnicas se utilizaron para describirlo, c贸mo fueron avanzado y qu茅 pasos se dieron hasta su descubrimiento final -confieso no haber llegado a esta parte-. Sin embargo, en 煤ltima instancia este libro es una biograf铆a encubierta de su autor, Svante P盲盲bo, eminent铆simo cient铆fico de larga trayectoria, que fue laureado en 2018 con el premio Princesa de Asturias de Investigaci贸n Cient铆fica y T茅cnica, entre muchos otros.
Si est谩is muy interesados en la gen茅tica, si sent铆s curiosidad por c贸mo funciona el sistema universitario europeo o si alguna vez os hab茅is sentido atra铆dos por la vida de este cient铆fico, este es vuestro libro. Si vais buscando informaci贸n sobre el hombre de Neandertal, huid como de la peste. Al criticar el libro por lo que no es en vez de por lo que es estoy siendo terriblemente injusto. Pero soy humano, no puedo evitarlo: pocos libros se me han hecho m谩s cuesta arriba, m谩s inaccesibles y poco atractivos. No soy bi贸logo de bata, muy a mi pesar. De hecho, si de algo me ha convencido este libro por la facilidad con la que describe ciertos episodios es de lo mediocre que he sido, y soy, como acad茅mico. Y quiz谩 el darme cuenta de esto 煤ltimo haya sido lo que m谩s haya lastrado mi lectura. Pero no todos nacemos para cient铆ficos, desafortunadamente.
Si est谩is muy interesados en la gen茅tica, si sent铆s curiosidad por c贸mo funciona el sistema universitario europeo o si alguna vez os hab茅is sentido atra铆dos por la vida de este cient铆fico, este es vuestro libro. Si vais buscando informaci贸n sobre el hombre de Neandertal, huid como de la peste. Al criticar el libro por lo que no es en vez de por lo que es estoy siendo terriblemente injusto. Pero soy humano, no puedo evitarlo: pocos libros se me han hecho m谩s cuesta arriba, m谩s inaccesibles y poco atractivos. No soy bi贸logo de bata, muy a mi pesar. De hecho, si de algo me ha convencido este libro por la facilidad con la que describe ciertos episodios es de lo mediocre que he sido, y soy, como acad茅mico. Y quiz谩 el darme cuenta de esto 煤ltimo haya sido lo que m谩s haya lastrado mi lectura. Pero no todos nacemos para cient铆ficos, desafortunadamente.
June 12, 2019
Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes by Svante Paabo
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote -
Svante Paabo is the Mick Jagger of Recombinant DNA Anthropology. I know this because I saw him on an unrelated TV program and you could see the young female Neanderthal professor simply quiver in his presence.
So, it's probably not surprising that a surprisingly large portion of this book involves his personal life. I suspect that he imagined himself fighting the stereotype of cold, impersonal science with his personal reflections. Perhaps, but there was an awful lot of barely covered up infighting, concern about political correctness, and calculations about how not to be upstaged. Actually, in a way, that may be the more important historical angle; Paabo offers an insight into the culture of science as it is actually practiced.
On the other hand, there was really some personal information that we didn't need. Paabo lost a lot of empathy for me - and, in fact, reinforced the image of the out of touch science nerd - with his story about how he went from out of the closet homosexual to heterosexual parent by committing adultery with a married colleague, who was so cool with this cuckolding that he moved to Germany, took a job with Paabo, and, apparently, welcomes Paabo into the family.
Yuck!
Another large, large portion of the book is the inside story of how recombinant DNA research is done. Actually, I found this interesting because I've heard the terminology for years and Paabo was able to explain it. Nonetheless, this stuff went on for a long time. Again, though, as a history of the field, this book will probably be a treasure to future historians of science.
The gosh-wow! information was mostly relegated to the final chapters wherein we hear about Neanderthal gene flow into Homo Sapiens, e.g., all non-Africans have around 3% of the Neanderthal genetic information. Paabo was also the person who discovered that Denisovans were a new....species? sub-species? race?...it's not clear. Paabo explains:
"The final mappings didn鈥檛 change the picture, and I became convinced that the Denisova girl was a member of a population that shared a common origin with Neanderthals, but that had听 lived separately from the Neanderthals for at least as long as Finns today have been separated from, say, the San in southern Africa. Denisova DNA sequences tended to be a bit closer to those of Eurasians than to Africans, but less so than were the Neanderthal DNA sequences. This was best explained by a common ancestry for the Denisova girl and Neanderthals so that when Neanderthals mixed with modern humans, Eurasian ancestors inherited DNA sequences that were somewhat similar to Denisova DNA sequences just because the Neanderthals were related to the Denisova girl."
That was probably the most surprising bit of the book. The Denisovans have been presented in the popular media as a completely new species, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
I thought the book was interesting. It should have been a lot more tedious than I found it to be. However, it didn't have the attention grabbing, gosh-wow! interest that I expected. So, rather than 5 stars, I've rolled it back a star based on my subjective expectations. I suspect that for reader not looking for a deep dive into chemistry and lab techniques the rating will be much lower.
Please give my Amazon review a helpful vote -
Svante Paabo is the Mick Jagger of Recombinant DNA Anthropology. I know this because I saw him on an unrelated TV program and you could see the young female Neanderthal professor simply quiver in his presence.
So, it's probably not surprising that a surprisingly large portion of this book involves his personal life. I suspect that he imagined himself fighting the stereotype of cold, impersonal science with his personal reflections. Perhaps, but there was an awful lot of barely covered up infighting, concern about political correctness, and calculations about how not to be upstaged. Actually, in a way, that may be the more important historical angle; Paabo offers an insight into the culture of science as it is actually practiced.
On the other hand, there was really some personal information that we didn't need. Paabo lost a lot of empathy for me - and, in fact, reinforced the image of the out of touch science nerd - with his story about how he went from out of the closet homosexual to heterosexual parent by committing adultery with a married colleague, who was so cool with this cuckolding that he moved to Germany, took a job with Paabo, and, apparently, welcomes Paabo into the family.
Yuck!
Another large, large portion of the book is the inside story of how recombinant DNA research is done. Actually, I found this interesting because I've heard the terminology for years and Paabo was able to explain it. Nonetheless, this stuff went on for a long time. Again, though, as a history of the field, this book will probably be a treasure to future historians of science.
The gosh-wow! information was mostly relegated to the final chapters wherein we hear about Neanderthal gene flow into Homo Sapiens, e.g., all non-Africans have around 3% of the Neanderthal genetic information. Paabo was also the person who discovered that Denisovans were a new....species? sub-species? race?...it's not clear. Paabo explains:
"The final mappings didn鈥檛 change the picture, and I became convinced that the Denisova girl was a member of a population that shared a common origin with Neanderthals, but that had听 lived separately from the Neanderthals for at least as long as Finns today have been separated from, say, the San in southern Africa. Denisova DNA sequences tended to be a bit closer to those of Eurasians than to Africans, but less so than were the Neanderthal DNA sequences. This was best explained by a common ancestry for the Denisova girl and Neanderthals so that when Neanderthals mixed with modern humans, Eurasian ancestors inherited DNA sequences that were somewhat similar to Denisova DNA sequences just because the Neanderthals were related to the Denisova girl."
That was probably the most surprising bit of the book. The Denisovans have been presented in the popular media as a completely new species, but that doesn't seem to be the case.
I thought the book was interesting. It should have been a lot more tedious than I found it to be. However, it didn't have the attention grabbing, gosh-wow! interest that I expected. So, rather than 5 stars, I've rolled it back a star based on my subjective expectations. I suspect that for reader not looking for a deep dive into chemistry and lab techniques the rating will be much lower.
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