Genetic Reconstruction of the Past

Genetic Reconstruction of the Past, by Henry A. Erlich ‘65 (Oxford, $34.95). A retired academic and industrial research scientist has crafted an accessible, engaging history of the development of PCR (polymerase chain reaction) technology to amplify DNA sequences, and its application to the past: recently (as in forensics and the unraveling of crimes) and long ago (as in Harvard professor of genetics David Reich’s pathbreaking studies of human evolution and migration). A twofer: more reliable justice, and better appreciation of humans’ shared ancestry. * Harvard Magazine *This volume offers readers an exhaustive chronicle of the advances in DNA research and its application as a tool for reading both the past and the present. * Choice *It is a quick read, and it is likely to be appreciated byhistorians of science as well as readers whose guiltypleasures include TV shows such as CSI: Miami. * Joseph Lachance, THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY *

Henry A. Erlich is Research Emeritus at the Benioff UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute. He received his B.A. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard in 1965 and his Ph.D in Genetics from the University of Washington. He was a post-doctoral fellow in the Biology Department at Princeton University from 1972-75 and in the Immunology Department at the Stanford School of Medicine from 1975-79. He was Director of the Human GeneticsDepartment at Cetus Corporation and Director of Human Genetics and VP of Exploratory Research at Roche Molecular Systems until 2013. He was a Senior Scientist at the Research Institute until 2021.