Favorite Genetics Quote from Next by Michael Crichton

Oops. In my book review, I forgot to quote my favorite bit of Michael Crichton’s book, Next.

Op-Ed Commentary from the New York Times:

A “SOCIABILITY GENE”? WHEN WILL THIS NONSENSE STOP?

Columbia University researchers now claim to have found a sociability gene. What’s next? The shyness gene? The reclusive gene? The monastic gene? How about the get-off-my-back gene?

In truth, researchers are taking advantage of the public’s lack of knowledge about how genes actually operate. No single gene controls any behavioral trait. Unfortunately, the public doesn’t know that. They think there’s a gene for eye color, for height, and for hair curliness, so why not one for sociability? Geneticists will not speak out. They all sit on the boards of private companies, and are in a race to identify genes they can patent for their own profit.

Will this ever stop? Evidently not.

I could almost hear Michael Crichton chuckling to himself as he wrote Next. He obviously had quite a lot of fun! And there were a few laugh out loud moments in the book.

This particular passage reminded me of a post I wrote early this year on Dermagenetics and DNA-selected products.

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