The Art of Genes: How Organisms Make Themselves

As a High School student, I made many an inquiry into the very questions that this text (and other more recently published texts) seeks to answer or to explain. I was rebuffed by many a teacher then as well as in my later colligiate days as if I had asked something absurd like "what is God made of?" . Yet, just the street from my home as a youth, Kornberg was working on the elucidation of DNA Polymerase and across the pond, Watson and Crick were on the verge of deciphering the enigmatic DNA molecule. All this excitement and still, no real answers for nearly fifty years. This book by Coen is an absolutely wonderfully well composed and well written text that elucidates in great depth the real mystery that is the product of our genes. No longer concerned with the humdrum mechanics and mere architecture of DNA, it reveals the real magic and dynamics of the stuff that has for so long eluded such inquiring minds as my own. As a former research Microbiologist and avocational artist, I found E.Coen's analogy a genuinely perfect metaphor for representing the dynamics of the gene. I have reviewed many similar texts, each of which were excellent in their approach to this subject but I choose this text as a particularly marvelous text for both the professional and layperson alike to read for a comprehensive understanding of the true miracle of living matter.

Perhaps not the first time, but certainly one of the most eloquent and thought-provoking exposition of the wonderfully complex subject of biological development. The author first seems to invoke a parallel relationship of development and creativity as yin and yang, but finishes off the book with an intriguing explanation that human creativity is itself a byproduct, consequence, or continuum of development.The Biology undergrad or grad student may have grasped the fundamentals of developmental biology from "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (Alberts, Watson, et al), "Developmental Biology" (Gilbert), or "Genes, Embryos, and Evolution" (Gerhart and Kirschner). Enrico Coen's book, however, certainly provides a fresh outlook of plant and animal development rich with comparisons to artistic creativity, hidden colors, scents and sensitivities, interpretations, elaborations, and refinements. This outlook also raises the question of whether genes that dictate development can be compared to instruction manuals or artists painting their canvas---in the case of development, the instruction and execution are inseparable, and the genes are affected by the organisms they produce in a similar way that the artist responds to his/her own creation.Anyone with a molecular biology background can worry less about the details of gene regulation, differential gene expression, and protein-DNA and protein-protein interactions. By focusing instead on metaphors or analogies in art and creativity, delving in Dr. Coen's thoughts becomes an enjoyable exercise in imagination. On the other hand, readers who need more grounding in basic molecular biology may find the analogies daunting, but Dr. Coen explains the formidably complex and amazingly orchestrated system of the development of the multicellular organism very well. The reader acquires a new appreciation of development using the mind's color receptors and chemical senses.I wonder, as a non-developmental biologist, if Dr. Coen has inadvertently left some gaping holes in trying to explain left-right asymmetry. Briefly he ascribes the establishment of this asymmetry to the intrinsic lefthandedness or righthandedness of the building blocks of life, e.g., D-amino acids and L-sugars/monosaccharides. This leaves me wondering whether so much more has been found or observed recently to provide a basis for this morphological asymmetry other than ascribing it to the intrinsic asymmetry of molecular building blocks.This book will nonetheless stand out as a unique perspective and exposition of one of biology's most perplexing and still most interesting phenomena.

I've read a number of popular books on genetics. If you really want to know how a gene's influence unfolds in your body, this is the definitive book to read. Nobody is better than Dr. Coen at explaining how genes work in colorful metaphors that the layperson can understand. He writes concise summaries at the end of every chapter (Why don't other popular science writers do that?) Highly recommended reading.

Embryological development has been one of the big questions in biology for a long time, and there are now solidly supported theories of how it works. There are two "popular" books -- The Triumph of the Embryo, and this one. This is very non-technical, and more entertaining. Coen uses metaphors drawn from art to explain the ideas. The central idea is the distribution of "hidden colors" through the organism at various stages; the genes react to and interpret these "colors".One complaint: no color diagrams!

I always had the feeling that evolution was the inventor of new things and development was a secondary problem of how to build an organism from information already present in the fertilised egg. Now I know what problems need to be solved in building a multicellular organism from a single cell in the first place. Enrico Coen magnificently explains how the head-tail, ventral-dorsal, left-right and inside-outside axis is build out of nearly nothing. The subtitle of the book is a perfect illustration of the task: How organisms make themselves (without help from outside). The problem looked only harder since the discovery of DNA : the information in DNA is one-dimensional, so how to build a 3-dimensional organism on the basis of that? No wonder that people in previous centuries saw miniature humans in egg or sperm. But since that 'solution' was refuted, the problem confronted us again: how do organisms make themselves? Enrico Coen gives deep insights with the help of metaphors derived from art and with the necessary scientific details and without confusing us with too many complexities. Coen explains the crucial role of genes without being a genetic reductionist. His examples are both from animals and plants, wich I find an advantage. This book is an achievement. The only criticism I have is that the main metaphor Coen uses is about colors and all the illustrations are in black-and-white! At least the hardback edition should have color illustrations!