First published 2000
Seymour Benzer spent decades in his California Institute of Technology laboratory studying fruit flies to unlock how genes control behavior. This Brooklyn-born scientist asked fundamental questions about human nature: How much does DNA determine who we become? Which traits are written into our genetic code before birth? Pulitzer Prize winner Jonathan Weiner follows Benzer and his colleagues as they make discoveries about the molecular mechanisms that govern our circadian rhythms, work that would earn Nobel Prizes. Weiner combines biography with scientific detective story, showing how Benzer's experiments with fruit fly genes changed our understanding of the links between DNA and behavior in both animals and humans. The book reveals how genetic research transforms our view of ourselves and our world.
Genres: biography, 20th-century, 21st-century, genetics, academic, history-of-science
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: biographical, scientific-discovery
Setting: California, Brooklyn
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
320 pages · Paperback · Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group