Kevin Davies – författare

How sickle cell anemia led the quest to edit the human genome while patients endured decades of racial discrimination and medical neglect.In December 1904, Walter Clement Noel, a dental student from Grenada, was admitted to a Chicago hospital with fever, jaundiced eyes, and leg ulcers. When doctors examined his blood under a microscope, they were puzzled by his sickle-shaped cells. His case became enshrined in the annals of medicine as the first report of sickle cell anemia, a life-threatening disease that starves the body’s organs of oxygen, causing excruciating pain.In Curved Air, Kevin Davies chronicles the story of sickle cell anemia from its ancient origins in Sub-Saharan Africa to its surprising role in the success of human genome editing, revealing how one of the world’s most famous genetic diseases was also among its most neglected. Scientists discovered the molecular anomaly responsible for the disease over 75 years ago. Yet for decades, patients, many of them Black, suffered in silence, denied urgent care by a healthcare system quick to dismiss them as drug seekers. It was only in 2023, after researchers in the US and Europe partnered with biotech companies, that hope arrived in the approval of a revolutionary gene editing therapy: CRISPR.Giving voice to the sickle cell pioneers, including Victoria Gray, who bravely became the first volunteer to have her blood cells engineered, Curved Air is at once a story of failure and breakthroughs, heartbreak and hope. It is also a celebration of the scientists, physicians, and, above all, the patients who are finally catching a glimpse of the cure they have waited generations to see.

In 1953, James Watson and Francis Crick unveiled the double helix structure of DNA. The discovery was a profound moment in the history of science, but solving the structure of the genetic material did not reveal what the human genome sequence actually was, or what it says about who we are. Cracking the code of life would take another half a century. In 2001, two rival teams of scientists shared the acclaim for sequencing the human genome. Kevin Davies, founding editor of Nature Genetics, has relentlessly followed the story as it unfolded week by week since the dawn of the Human Genome Project in 1990. Here, in rich human and scientific detail, is the compelling story of one of the greatest scientific feats ever accomplished: the sequencing of the human genome. In brilliant, accessible prose, Davies captures the drama of this momentous achievement, drawing on his own genetics expertise and on interviews with the key scientists. Davies details the fraught rivalry between the public consortium, chaperoned by Francis Collins, and Celera Genomics, directed by sequencer J. Craig Venter.And in this newly updated edition, Davies sheds light on the secrets of the sequence, highlighting the myriad ways in which genomics will impact human health for the generations to come. Cracking the Genome is the definitive, balanced account of how the code that holds the answer to the origin of life, the evolution of humanity, and the future of medicine was finally broken.

Plant pigments represent an active field of research that impacts fundamental studies of plant function and gene expression, agriculture, the processing of foods and human health. This book reviews major plant pigment groups, considering the underlying biology, genetic manipulation, and applications of plant pigments within agriculture.

Annual Plant Reviews, Volume 14It is difficult to over-state the importance of plant pigments in biology. Chlorophylls are arguably the most important organic compounds on earth, as they are required for photosynthesis. Carotenoids are also necessary for the survival of both plants and mammals, through their roles in photosynthesis and nutrition, respectively. The other plant pigment groups, such as flavonoids and betalains, have important roles in both the biology of plants and the organisms with which plants interact. This book provides an overview of pigment chemistry and biology, together with an up-to-date account of the biosynthesis of pigments and the modification of their production using biotechnology. The chapters cover a wide scope of pigmentation research - from the importance of structural diversity in generating the range of colours seen in plants, through to improving human health properties of crops by increasing pigment levels in transgenic plants. The volume is directed at researchers and professionals in plant biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics.