“After hearing that there are more cells of "other stuff" in the human body than our own cells, I felt compelled to read up on the subject. Zuk's book is squarely focused on the subject of how the other, whether it be virus, bacteria or parasite, have made us who we are.
She begins by exploring how external life has pushed the evolution, moves on to impacts on medicine and finally ends up with how parasites have influenced genes themselves. While many of the points she makes are interesting, I found the discussion of them lacking detail. Perhaps I was hoping for more than could be accomplished in such a short book.
I would recommend the book for anyone interested in a cursory overview of how we're influenced by bacteria and parasites but skip it if you're hoping for a more detailed discussion.”
tungsten wrote this review Monday, March 24, 2008.
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