The Gene

The Gene

Episode

First
Broadcast

Comments

20160620

A history of mental illness - bipolar disorder and schizophrenia - in the author's family underpins this intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The quest to understand heredity and family begins with a monk, Mendel, and his peas.

Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award.

He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Read by Raj Ghatak

20160621

An intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

In 1859 Darwin published his famous book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. During the years before and after its publication, Gregor Mendel, a young Silesian monk, had been busy breeding peas and carefully logging his results. He was on the way towards a theory of heredity - to identifying the existence of genes.

He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Read by Raj Ghatak

Darwin's theory of evolution unlocked a world of understanding, but it was incomplete.

20160622

Siddhartha Mukherjee's history of the gene, the essential unit of biological information, continues with a startling account of how Darwin's cousin coined the word 'eugenics'.

He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Read by Raj Ghatak

Siddhartha Mukherjee's history of the gene, the essential unit of biological information.

20160623

An intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

In the decades since Darwin and Mendel, scientists have learned to 'read' the gene - but they are still fathoming how much of the information on the human genome determines who we are. The quest to determine how much of human identity is nature (a result of genetic information) and how much is nurture (shaped by the world around us) was given new impetus by studies of identical twins.

He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Read by Raj Ghatak

Scientists are still fathoming how the information on the genome determines who we are.

05 LAST

20160624

Siddhartha Mukherjee reflects on his own family's history of mental illness and looks forward to the breakthroughs that will enable us to understand more about the role that genes play in family life.

Learning to 'read' our genetic information was a crucial development, much more dramatic is the growing science of 'writing' the gene. Genetic therapy is still in its infancy, and its early failures still haunt the scientific community.

He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University.

Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Read by Raj Ghatak

Genetic therapy is still in its infancy, and its early failures still haunt scientists.

Episodes

Episode	First Broadcast	Comments
01	20160620	A history of mental illness - bipolar disorder and schizophrenia - in the author's family underpins this intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. The quest to understand heredity and family begins with a monk, Mendel, and his peas. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award. He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee Read by Raj Ghatak
02	20160621	An intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. In 1859 Darwin published his famous book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection. During the years before and after its publication, Gregor Mendel, a young Silesian monk, had been busy breeding peas and carefully logging his results. He was on the way towards a theory of heredity - to identifying the existence of genes. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award. He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee Read by Raj Ghatak Darwin's theory of evolution unlocked a world of understanding, but it was incomplete.
03	20160622	Siddhartha Mukherjee's history of the gene, the essential unit of biological information, continues with a startling account of how Darwin's cousin coined the word 'eugenics'. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award. He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee Read by Raj Ghatak Siddhartha Mukherjee's history of the gene, the essential unit of biological information.
04	20160623	An intimate history of the gene by Siddhartha Mukherjee. In the decades since Darwin and Mendel, scientists have learned to 'read' the gene - but they are still fathoming how much of the information on the human genome determines who we are. The quest to determine how much of human identity is nature (a result of genetic information) and how much is nurture (shaped by the world around us) was given new impetus by studies of identical twins. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award. He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee Read by Raj Ghatak Scientists are still fathoming how the information on the genome determines who we are.
05 LAST	20160624	Siddhartha Mukherjee reflects on his own family's history of mental illness and looks forward to the breakthroughs that will enable us to understand more about the role that genes play in family life. Learning to 'read' our genetic information was a crucial development, much more dramatic is the growing science of 'writing' the gene. Genetic therapy is still in its infancy, and its early failures still haunt the scientific community. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a cancer physician and researcher, a stem cell biologist and cancer geneticist. He is also author of The Emperor of All Maladies, a biography of cancer which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction, and the Guardian first book award. He is assistant professor of Medicine at Columbia University. Written by Siddhartha Mukherjee Read by Raj Ghatak Genetic therapy is still in its infancy, and its early failures still haunt scientists.