In the strands of history: The Gene Odyssey. Review of the book by Évelyne Heyer (L’odyssée des gènes, Paris, Flammarion, 2020)

Abstract

“Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past”. George Orwell’s famous phrase, taken from his magnum opus “1984” and quoted by Evelyne Heyer in her book L’odyssee des genes, seems to perfectly illustrate the general point of view of this anthropologist of genetics’ work: writing and interpreting the history of humanity –including the history of our genetic heritage– is a matter of power. Dr. Heyer takes us on a 7-million-year journey through DNA strand...