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Parasite (Parasitology, #1)

Mira Grant

Start date: May 21, 2014

Finish date: June 20, 2014

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Group Discussion Contemporary Novel (Award nominee) May 2014
[close] Group Discussion Contemporary Novel (Award nominee) May 2014

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May 01, 2017 Jim rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, 3series, 1audio, 2fiction

The premise of this was super. It seems perfectly reasonable to me - a bioengineered tape worm that cures a lot of ills, especially many of those that may be brought on by our high tech society, extreme cleanliness, & other things they're figuring out now. I knew a guy in the Peace Corps in the 1970s who ate a tapeworm egg before going to 3d world countries. He swore it helped save him from dysentery & other issues. He just got rid of it every 6 months or so. There are those who think a tapeworm The premise of this was super. It seems perfectly reasonable to me - a bioengineered tape worm that cures a lot of ills, especially many of those that may be brought on by our high tech society, extreme cleanliness, & other things they're figuring out now. I knew a guy in the Peace Corps in the 1970s who ate a tapeworm egg before going to 3d world countries. He swore it helped save him from dysentery & other issues. He just got rid of it every 6 months or so. There are those who think a tapeworm is an answer to dieting today. Most folks won't go there, but what about a GMO to save the day? Why not?

The characters were good as was the setting, the pharmaceutical company, & the divisions among the scientists. Well done, a great basis for a story that moved too slowly for me. The punch line is telegraphed early & the story went on for too long. Waiting for our heroine to finally figure it out was pretty tough. It didn't help that she was, in the words of one of the better characters (a gal that reminded me of Harley Quinn in 'Suicide Squad') “a poster child for dull” & had the "learning curve of a lichen". Unfortunately, she's right. Still, the story was interesting enough that I never wanted to skip through or quit.

I was disappointed in the way the science was handled. There were too many instances of combining DNA of separate species without mentioning comparable gene complexes. Actually, I'm not sure that genes were ever mentioned. It reeks of ignorance, the sort of drivel anti-GMO advocates spout while being horrified at the thought of a fish gene being put into a tomato. I realize the heroine was ignorant of the basics, but a little more effort could have made this truly chilling as well as somewhat educational.

From what I've read there are a large number of genes we share in common with other life forms due to the way we evolved (50% with a banana, 70% with a slug, & 98% with chimps). I'm not sure that there is any direct correlation between that & how various pesticides react, though. I would think it would it would have more to do with the mechanism of the pesticide.

Gene expression is pretty weird & could have been used. New & Old world monkeys with trichromatic vision evolved it independently. We know this because different gene complexes control the expression of the ability. IIRC, Old World monkey had the ability, New World monkeys lost it & then regained it. Rather than turning back on the unused genes, they developed a new method. Venomous: How Earth's Deadliest Creatures Mastered Biochemistry has some examples about how small environmental changes can lead to some pretty strange things.

I think the story have been better if there were unforeseen instances of gene expression, mutagenesis, or just plain environmental factors. GMOs created through transgenesis or RNA interference are incredibly well tested & documented compared to other methods such as mutagenic organisms or natural selection. It's the difference between having a high-end auto shop work on your car or a cave man.

Anyway, I just didn't find the science hard enough to be compelling.

The narrator was very good & she reads the next in the trilogy. This book doesn't come to any conclusion, but I'm not sure I'm going to bother with 2 more lengthy books to get there. ...more

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Oct 08, 2013 Michael rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, arc, read-in-2013, tower-team-challenge-b, pbrc-tower-challenge

Mira Grant's first novel Feed was one of the best novels of its year, garnering critical praise, a legion of fans and making the short list for the Hugo Award.

It deserved every bit of that attention thanks in large part thanks to a new take on the zombie thriller and a couple of interesting twists along the way that made me eager for the next installment in the trilogy. Unfortunately, the final two segments of the Newsflesh trilogy never quite lived up to the high bar set by the first book.

But ...more

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