Biology, Computing, and the History of Molecular Sequencing: From Proteins to DNA, 1945-2000 (Science, Technology and Medicine in Modern History) - Softcover

García-Sancho, M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1137543329 ISBN 13: 9781137543325

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012

Synopsis

Sequencing is often associated with the Human Genome Project and celebrated achievements concerning the DNA molecule. However, the history of this practice comprises not only academic biology, but also the world of computer-assisted information management. The book uncovers this history, qualifying the hype and expectations around genomics.

About this title

About the Author:

Miguel Garcia-Sancho obtained his Ph.D. at Imperial College London, UK, and has worked at the University of Manchester and Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). He is currently a Chancellor's Fellow at the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies of the University of Edinburgh. His interests lay in the history and social studies of twentieth century biomedicine, as well as science communication and free-lance scientific journalism.

Review:

"Overall, this book provides a detailed time line of the events from the earliest methodologies to the metagenomic sequencing standard of today, and is a useful resource for anyone interested in the historical angle of DNA sequencing. Highly recommended." - M.C. Pavao, Worcester State College, Choice

"...an invaluable, possibly even essential, addition to the bookshelf of anyone wishing to understand modern biology in all its facets...The author has done a masterful job of integrating information about the way in which different aspects of computer science...have contributed to the development of sequencing." - Neeraja Sankaran, British Journal for the History of Science, 46: 544

"...a revised dissertation, grounded in a remarkable variety of primary sources including corporate records and oral history interviews." - Ruth Schwatz Cowan, American Historical Review, June 2013: 827

"...a timely and informative history of molecular sequencing ... Overall, Garcia-Sancho's book provides a highly readable and insightful analysis of the history of molecular sequencing, one that should be appreciated for its broad synthesis of existing scholarship and its extensive use of historical documents.." - Doogab Yi, History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences

"Supported by an impressive archival and oral research, and by a thorough revision of the secondary literature of the field, García-Sancho´s book is a celebration of what the history of recent and contemporary science can achieve, and for years to come it will remain as an obliged reference not only for historians of science, but for sociologists and all those interested in the detailed development of the industrialized-information society." - Edna Suarez-Diaz, Dynamis

About this edition

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1137543329
• ISBN 13: 9781137543325
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 255