TO AN outsider, the Human Genome Project looks like a scientific Everest: people counting genes just because they are there. For those of us not drawn to data-mountains, the gap between the project’s usefulness and the grand promises of its early days is striking.
Now, 10 years since the first draft sequence was revealed, a widespread debate has arisen about its impact. Into the fray steps veteran science writer Victor McElheny. His Drawing the Map of Life is an in-depth chronicle of the project that moves from the nascent genetic questions of 1970s biology, through the fierce rivalry of…
