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Tears of the Cheetah: The Genetic Secrets of Our Animal Ancestors
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Product Description
In Tears of the Cheetah, medical geneticist and conservationist Stephen J. O'Brien narrates fast-moving science adventure stories that explore the mysteries of survival among the earth's most endangered and beloved wildlife. Here we uncover the secret histories of exotic species such as Indonesian orangutans, humpback whales, and the imperiled cheetah-the world's fastest animal which nonetheless cannot escape its own genetic weaknesses.
Among these genetic detective stories we also discover how the Serengeti lions have lived with FIV (the feline version of HIV), where giant pandas really come from, how bold genetic action pulled the Florida panther from the edge of extinction, how the survivors of the medieval Black Death passed on a genetic gift to their descendents, and how mapping the genome of the domestic cat solved a murder case in Canada.
With each riveting account of animal resilience and adaptation, a remarkable parallel in human medicine is drawn, adding yet another rationale for species conservation-mining their genomes for cures to our own fatal diseases. Tears of the Cheetah offers a fascinating glimpse of the insight gained when geneticists venutre into the wild.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #810964 in Books
- Published on: 2005-04-01
- Released on: 2005-03-10
- Original language: English
- Dimensions: .80" h x 5.54" w x 8.28" l, .61 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The 14 firsthand evolutionary yarns collected here are the equivalent of genomic Aesop's fables. By turns passionate, understated, unexpectedly literate and historically astute, O'Brien, head of the National Institutes of Health's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, is a breath of fresh air: he's written a genetics book that neither probes the ambiguous legacy of genetic engineering nor seeks to entice us with yet another last-word account of the race to map the human genome-and judiciously dispensing with jargon wherever possible, O'Brien's a smooth read as well. The author does not tell us the genetic fable of how the leopard got its spots, but he comes close. The title story recounts his research team's startling discovery of near-complete genetic uniformity among cheetahs, derived possibly from a brush with extinction that forced inbreeding. O'Brien enters a century-old debate on the taxonomy of the endangered panda, whether it belongs to the bear or the raccoon family: a little molecular-genetic detective work revealed it to be either, depending on the species (there is actually more than one). He reads and learns from the genetic histories of the humpback whale and other exotic species. An underlying theme of the book is how these parables illuminate human medicine-how, for example, insights into cat immunodeficiency could lead to a cure for AIDS; another could be said to be self-congratulation for his articles in Nature, his textbook citations and press clippings. But this is only a minor irritation. O'Brien is an explorer of the first order, intrepid and curious. His accomplishments, including this modest book, are considerable.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Presenting his lab's genetic work on endangered species, O'Brien delves into considerable but not overwhelming technical detail. In part because he's a skillful narrator, relating how his expertise was sought to solve mysteries about the lion, the panda, and the humpback whale, O'Brien's exploration of the genetic landscape of a particular species is marvelously revelatory of its history. O'Brien and his colleagues at the National Cancer Institute are able to see near-extinction events of the past in various segments of DNA that have descended to the present: the cheetah, for example, came close to dying out 12,000 years ago. A species' episodes of disease and inbreeding are recorded in the genes O'Brien discusses, information crucial to preservation efforts--even if, as the author relates of his work on the Florida panther, there is resistance to accepting the information within the conservation community. Molecular biology can be difficult to absorb, but not when a clear expositor such as O'Brien has such good stories to tell. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
- Ernst Mayr
"Tears of the Cheetah will certainly do a great deal to persuade the lay person that genomics and the mysteries of genetics have immediate and practical application to our lives. I enjoyed the well told and fast paced stories."
- Richard Leakey, author of Wildlife Wars
"Steve O'Brien is a national treasure. A distinguished molecular biologist studying cancer and AIDS, he is also a dedicated conservationist who wields the tools of recombinant DNA to help protect endangered species. Tears of the Cheetah shows that he's a captivating story teller too. It's Crick and Watson meet The Wild Kingdom!"
- Eric Lander, principal scientist and leader of the International Human Genome Project.
"This is an authoritative foray into the world of both animal and human genetics, but not a static account of esoteric information. Rather, this is a lively telling of fascinating stories of the personal experiences of the author that illustrate numerous practical applications of the studies of DNA and molecular genetics...O'Brien shows us a free-spirited, ever confident and wide ranging curiosity evident in his marvelous adventures of three decades of research in mouse, cat, and man. This book will be interesting reading for any student of life."
- Robert Gallo, co-discoverer of HIV
"In lively and clear prose, Stephen O'Brien takes us on a fascinating journey through three decades of the application of molecular biology to conservation, and illustrates how these advances can assist in the control of human disease. Highly educational, personal, and exciting, this book will help its readers to understand the golden age of biology that we entered about 50 years ago and its implications for everyone."
- Peter Raven, director of the Missouri Botanical Garden and author of The Biology of Plants
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"A riveting mix of genetics, evolution, wild species and human health. Stephen O'Brien tells detective stories Conan Doyle would envy."
- Thomas Lovejoy, author of The Magnificent Exception
