Parasara Sridhar Duggirala's Blog

This book covers the history of genes, right from the age old theories of heredity to the most recent developments on gene editing with CRISPR/cas9. Interleaved with this history are some personal stories about the author's family members who suffer from Schizophrenia. The book is divided into 5 parts based on the chronological and scientific themes. I would consider this book more as a textbook written in an accessible way than a non-fiction book. I certainly learned a lot about the various scientific developments in genetics and contributions of a bunch of Nobel Laureates and also people like Oswald Avery and Rosalind Franklin who were fully deserving of a Nobel. When someone mentions that DNA has a double helix structure and is coiled within chromosomes, I always wondered, how do they know that? This book lays out a sequence of experiments which demonstrates that 1) Chromosomes are carriers of genetic information, 2) Using bio-chemistry, one can know the underlying chemica...

This book is a character study of Eileen, a 24 year old introvert from a dysfunctional family who works as a clerk in prison. She meets a charming girl and something happens. The book is presented as Eileen, who is now 60, recalls the sequence of events during the week of Christmas when she was 24. The story of this book can be condensed as a short story of 10-15 pages, but I think that is not the point. In this book, you actually get to meet Eileen. Although there was a very thin story line, I really liked this book. Eileen's character has aspects of innocence, stupidity, rage, compassion, and cruelty all mixed together. In the end, I felt like I met a real person. We can empathize with her while hating some of her actions. Her internal monologues are long, but a very lively and interesting. From her description, it is clear that she suffers from body dysphoria, depression, delusions, possibly sociopathic tendencies. But, instead of using labels, Eileen just describes her condi...

I am a fan of stories. Stories tell us about human condition and helps us empathize with the villains and cheer for heros. If you do not think that a story has to have a hero, sure, I understand. There is a protagonist and their circumstances. We would put ourselves in their shoes and get to feel their condition. This book is not one of them.  This story is about Silvie, daughter of a middle aged bus driver, Evil, who is also an amateur archaeologist. Evil's wife is Mrs. Indifference. A Prof. Stupid with three students, two guys Blah and evil-Blah, and one girl, Superwoman along with Evil family go on an "experimental archaeology" expedition. Silvie is charming in her own way and sometimes can intimidate Blah and evil-Blah. But she is also "impressed" by Superwoman. Evil and Stupid do a pre-iron age ritual and coerce Silvie (who is a minor, btw) into doing something that is clearly objectionable. Superwoman saves the day. This is not a story. There is no ...