What's in a Gene? Supposedly a lot!!

Introduction
I am big fan of Michael Crichton and the plots that he generally conjures. His story telling though usually leaves a lot to be desired. So, when I heard that a movie by the name of Next is coming, I assumed that it was a movie based on the novel Next by Crichton and as I like to read the book before I see a movie based on the book, I decided to check the book. Of course, I later found out that the movie was not based on the book and has nothing in common with the book.

The Plot
Rick Diehl is the CEO of BioGen Research on of the Biotech companies booming on gene therapies and research. He is under exceeding pressure from Jack Watson, the venture capitalist funding BioGen, to give out something breaking before the IPO of BioGen comes out. BioGen's future is based on cell line known as the Burnett cell line obtained from a patient Frank Burnet when he was undergoing treatment for Cancer.

As soon as Burnett comes to know of the commercial angle of his cell line he takes legal recourse to stop the commercialization of his cell lines and in the least asks for some compensation for the same. The whole scene gets pretty murky with the doctor who treated him and the university to which he is affiliated all joining in the fun, but at the end BioGen manages to get a favorable verdict.

Things suddenly seem to be going great for Rick as one of his scientists seems to have developed a maturity gene which allows people to get mature. One accidental experiment on a human being shows up that the has quit his drug addiction. Rick starts dreaming big and starts planning to get Jack off his back by getting in other VCs into the picture.

But, then luck takes another dip for Rick. First, he undergoes a divorce with his wife who had conjured up the initial investment for BioGen, then the cell line is some how stolen from his offsite storage and someone contaminates the ones in his lab. To make matters worse, the maturity gene seems to make people older quickly thus killing them off way before their normal old age.

So what does Rick do to get out of this predicament? Check out this whirlwind tour of the gene research worldwide with Michael Crichton for the details.

Critic's Viewpoint
Again Crichton has picked up a novel storyline based on the current research going on worldwide as the basic plot for his novel. The controversies and the ethical angle in gene research and patenting provide enough ammunition for a captivating plot. Crichton tries to use these controversies and angles and interweave them in a story that can make the reader think about the issue and start thinking about it.

But, again Crichton's story telling fails him once more. He seems to be interweaving too many stories together at the same time. In fact, each angle seems totally disconnected and though he tries to bring them all in one grand finale, it leaves an hollow feeling overall. Also, the way the novel is inter-weaved with actual articles appearing in between, should have worked in his favor, but his selection of the articles again left him high and dry and at the end you feel all these articles are just in there for fun element rather than sparking off a thought process.

Also, I have felt in many of Crichton's book that he has a strong viewpoint on the issues in his book and seems to portray only his viewpoint. The other aspects of it somehow get neglected unlike the likes of Sir Isaac Asimov who had a masterly aspect of portraying an issue from multiple viewpoints and leave the user as the judge of the situation.

Of course, the book does highlight the controversies and the horrors of the gene manipulations and the research, but stays away from giving a concrete viewpoint on how the Gene research subject should be handled. All through the book, the courts have been shown to be highly lacking in making judgements on the Gene research related subject, but then out of the blue at the end a small court suddenly seems to have seen light and gives a maturish judgement on the subject.

Even with these defects, the book is still worth reading. It is a very fast paced book and once you pick it up, it is very difficult to keep it down. Crichton's storytelling has improved a bit, but still he needs to improve a lot if he has to extract the maximum out of the fantastic story-lines he picks for his novels.

Summary
All in all another novel plot, not fully exploited by Michael Crichton. I would give this novel a four star rating based on the concept.