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  • The Tangled Tree

  • A Radical New History of Life
  • Written by: David Quammen
  • Narrated by: Jacques Roy
  • Length: 13 hrs and 48 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)

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The Tangled Tree

Written by: David Quammen
Narrated by: Jacques Roy
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Publisher's Summary

Nonpareil science writer David Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology can change our understanding of evolution and life’s history, with powerful implications for human health and even our own human nature.

In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field - the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level - is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important. For instance, we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived not through traditional inheritance from directly ancestral forms, but sideways by viral infection - a type of HGT.

In The Tangled Tree David Quammen, “one of that rare breed of science journalists who blends exploration with a talent for synthesis and storytelling” (Nature), chronicles these discoveries through the lives of the researchers who made them - such as Carl Woese, the most important little-known biologist of the 20th century; Lynn Margulis, the notorious maverick whose wild ideas about “mosaic” creatures proved to be true; and Tsutomu Wantanabe, who discovered that the scourge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a direct result of horizontal gene transfer, bringing the deep study of genome histories to bear on a global crisis in public health.

“Quammen is no ordinary writer. He is simply astonishing, one of that rare class of writer gifted with verve, ingenuity, humor, guts, and great heart” (Elle). Now, in The Tangled Tree, he explains how molecular studies of evolution have brought startling recognitions about the tangled tree of life - including where we humans fit upon it. Thanks to new technologies such as CRISPR, we now have the ability to alter even our genetic composition - through sideways insertions, as nature has long been doing. The Tangled Tree is a brilliant guide to our transformed understanding of evolution, of life’s history, and of our own human nature.

©2018 David Quammen (P)2018 Simon & Schuster

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

More biography than science.

Overall very disappointing. Interesting subject matter was eclipsed by an overbearing interest in the personal lives of the scientists behind the science. This book deserves Biographer status and has minimal scientific content.

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    4 out of 5 stars

This book got me into biology

I'm a physics and chemistry guy. My favourite books are about the history of nuclear physics and, to be honest, I was not expecting to be entertained by this book. however, Quammen does such a good job of making the story enthralling. There were moments when I laughed at loud, like Woese getting thrown in the bushes. there were moments when I was at the edge of my seat like the discovery of extremophiles.

My only criticism is that the book doesn't go into deep enough detail about the origin of life. the author does a great job of explaining many of the biochemistry concepts but he really shines when he talks about the human story. I wish there was a deeper explanation of the biochemistry of early life. How did an RNA world evolve into using proteins? How the heck did transcription.amd translation come about???

Overall, my curiosity is tickling from this book. it deserves credit for entertaining me and putting me on the path towards biology.

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