The Media Drop

During my trip out to the West Coast and back this week, I read Michael Crichton’s Next, a present-day tale that discusses the patenting of genes (forget the Human Genome Project and mapping, this is the next step), gene manipulation with animals and humans, and the chilling effects that come from all of these things. While I can see how the cynics out there will read the comments by Crichton at the end of the book and say that all he’s doing is pushing his agenda - not that I agree, believe me - I have to say that I was completely enthralled by how he weaved together so much reality. For those of you not into the science of things, a lot of the information within the book will astound, captivate, and flat out scare you. For those of you who “get” it all, you should be just as intrigued.

It’s no bit of a shock to say that someone as skilled as Crichton could put together a book with this level of scientific detail and make it into something that anyone could pick up and read - I mean, the guy’s behind ER and Jurassic Park, to name a few - but what I found to be catching me off guard is that none of it, at least from where I sit, seems out of the realm of possibilities. And when I say realm of possibilities, I mean that a lot of the stuff in this book is actually happening - as I am sitting on my flight home from San Diego - right now. Is it completely possible that, within the realm of a judge’s ruling, that a person’s cells could be noted to not be their own? Given the random technicalities I’ve seen in other cases, why not? That being said, is it possible to splice in some genes into chimpanzees or birds and given them “human” traits or abilities? This, I can’t say. What I appreciated, when it came to the far-fetchedness of it all, was that Crichton delivers a reality check or two throughout - and at the close - making the comparisons to how those interested in plant life went from manually splicing plants together to get hybrids to altering the genes in the plants themselves. Hell, I’ve read that they use something from lightning bugs in order to change the color of corn so it’s “brighter.”

I’m in no way going to write up a full review of the book - there are plenty of literary masters out there who’ve done it already - but I’ll put up my two cents on it that it gets good points for being a reasonably fast, yet quite smart, read. Additionally, the characters are just interesting enough for you to care without having to know ever detail of their lives up to and beyond the book. There’s enough random misbehavior by side and primary characters that you can get lost in a side-story, which I most certainly enjoyed, and it had a solid close that actually made me want to read what the author had to say. Hell, I think I read through most of the publications, articles and other such sources he credits at the end, and I don’t know when the last time I did that. So if you’re into a little bit of a science in your drama, then pick up Crichton’s Next. Just don’t come crying to me after your doctor won’t give you the fat he removes from you after your liposuction because he sold it.