Review: The Society of Genes

The Society of Genes by Itai Yanai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the intro, the authors say that while The Selfish Gene was important, it didn't answer the question of how said selfish genes interacted, and this, a more "holistic perspective" builds on that. In ten chapters, Yanai and Lercher cover topics from the last couple decades of research, starting with the mutations required for cancer, green beard genes, how different is the .5% difference between individual humans (still millions of base pairs), positive feedback loops, and endosymbiosis theory, among other things.

Aimed at a general audience with illustrated metaphors, this is a great introduction to current genetic knowledge (or a refresher if it's been a while since undergrad genetics). I still haven't read The Selfish Gene, so I can't judge how well this works as a successor in describing ideas on how genes interact and function (I assume TSG is also aimed at a general audience, but I also think it might be deeper? Won't know until I've read it).

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