The Compatibility Gene

Who am I? What makes me different from everyone else? Daniel Davis recounts the remarkable science that has answered one version of these questions -- Steven Pinker Ostensibly about a set of genes that we all have and need, this book is really about the men and women who discovered them and worked out what they do. It's a search for the essence of scientific greatness by a scientist who is headed that way himself -- Armand Marie Leroi, author of 'Mutants' The Compatibility Gene cuts through the complexity to reveal the startling truth about perhaps the most important section of the molecule that defines what it means to be human -- Steve Jones, author of 'Almost Like A Whale' Davis weaves a warm biographical thread through his tale of scientific discovery, revealing the drive and passion of those in the vanguard of research * The Times * Davis makes the twists and turns all count * Guardian * Davis ranges energetically through the research. Cultural references and anecdotes abound * Nature * A fascinating, expertly told story -- Michael Brooks * New Statesman * The genes that make you a true individual ... Davis provides a well-written and easy-to-read account of the sometimes complicated biology behind the crucial genes that affect our lives so profoundly * New Scientist * Wonderful pen-portraits of the many scientists involved in this fast-moving field ... 5 out of 5 stars -- Henry Gee * BBC Focus magazine * Dr. Davis's readable and informative book takes the reader into unexpectedly interesting corners of both the immune system and the lives of immunologists. It is packed with an insider's knowledge - not just of the field, but of where its bodies are buried -- Nicholas Wade * New York Times * An elegantly written, unexpectedly gripping account of how scientists painstakingly unravelled the way in which a small group of genes ... crucially influence, and unexpectedly interconnect, various aspects of our lives... Lab work has rarely been made to seem more interesting or heroic -- Bill Bryson * Guardian, Books of the Year 2013 *

Daniel M. Davis is director of research at the University of Manchester's Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research and a visiting professor at Imperial College, London. He has published over 100 academic papers, including papers in Nature and Science, and Scientific American, and lectures all over the world, including at the Royal Institution. He has previously won the Oxford University Press Science Writing Prize, and has given numerous interviews for national and international media, including The Times, Guardian, Metro, and National Public Radio (USA). A major feature on his research was published in The Times. Experiments filmed in his laboratory were shown in the BBC series 'The History of Medicine' (2008).