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Bryan Sykes
(2002) Corgi, London
ISBN: 05 5214 876 8 (Paperback, 367 pages)
In the late 1980s, Bryan Sykes and his research team at Oxford University's Institute of Molecular Medicine were among the first to use the newly-invented polymerase chain reaction to amplify DNA from archaeological specimens. This was initially done using a home-made thermal cycler (christened 'Genesmaid') which incorporated a kettle element and a washing-machine valve taken from Sykes's kitchen.
Arno Karelen
(2001) Phoenix, London (Orion Books)
ISBN: 0 75381 442 0 (Paperback, 178 pages)
For all that it is entitled the 'biography of a germ', the story of Borrelia burgdorferi is as much the story of two mothers who campaigned for their childrens' ailments to be taken seriously and of the scientist who linked their mysterious disease to a previously-unknown microbe.
James D. Watson
(2002) Alfred A. Knopf, New York
ISBN: 0 375 41283 2 (Hardback, 259 pages)
I've encountered James D. Watson in the flesh just once. He was at The Royal Society in London to receive an award from the Genetics Society a few years ago. His acceptance speech was rambling and the volume of his voice fluctuated wildly so that at times he was barely audible.
