Key themes
- The gene as the century's dominant idea — and its dangerous political history
- Eugenics and what genetics can and cannot tell us about human beings
- The future of genetic manipulation and its ethical horizon
About this book
The Gene: An Intimate History is a book written by Siddhartha Mukherjee, an Indian-born American physician and oncologist. It was published on 17 May 2016 by Scribner. The book chronicles the history
Published in 2016, The Gene won the Wellcome Book Prize and was shortlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction. Mukherjee spent several years writing it, drawing on both research and his family's history of mental illness.
Discussion questions
- The book opens with Mukherjee's own family history of mental illness. What does this personal stake add — and what does it say about the relationship between genetic science and lived human experience?
- Eugenics — the attempt to improve human heredity through selection — is one of the 20th century's great catastrophes. How does Mukherjee trace the path from legitimate genetics to eugenics?
- The book ends with questions about CRISPR and genetic editing. What does Mukherjee argue about the ethics of editing the human germline — and does his argument feel adequate to the stakes?
- Mukherjee is both a scientist and a literary writer. How does this dual position affect the book — and what does the literary approach add to scientific subject matter?
- The Gene and The Emperor of All Maladies are companion works. What do they share — and how does The Gene extend or revise the concerns of the earlier book?
Get the book
Links open an Amazon search. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Read together or read next
Books that make a good pairing or natural follow-up.
Reading it with your group?
Get The Gene
As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop.org affiliate we earn from qualifying purchases.