Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes

Svante Pääbo

Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes is a book by evolutionary anthropologist Svante Pääbo.[1] The book describes Pääbo's research into the DNA of Neanderthals, extinct hominids that lived across much of Europe and the Middle East. The book is written in the style of a memoir,[2] combining scientific findings with personal anecdotes.

Reception

The book was well reviewed by The New York Times, with Carl Zimmer calling it "a fascinating account."[3] The book made the paper's Sunday Book Review Editors' Choice List.[4] Peter Forbes of The Guardian, remarking on the book's characterization of the research process, stated that:

"His book is also valuable for showing just how modern research teams work together and, sometimes, fall out. Along the way, a key collaborator became a competitor and, midstream, Pääbo abandoned one collaborating gene-sequencing company for another. The race for the Neanderthal genome is reminiscent of the human genome story of 10 years previously, as recounted in James Shreeve's The Genome War."[5]

References

  1. Pääbo, Svante (2014). Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-02083-6.
  2. Mithen, Steven. "Most of Us Are Part Neanderthal". nybooks.com. The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  3. "Editors' Choice". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  4. Forbes, Peter. "Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes by Svante Pääbo – review". theguardian.com. The Guardian. Retrieved 7 July 2014.