Book Review: "Next," by Michael Crichton

When I was trying to think of a vacation book, "Jurassic Park" came to mind. It would be the perfect vacation book, but seeing as I read it last year, I had to come up with something else. So I decided to go with something by the same author.
I didn't enjoy "Next" quite as much, but it was a good vacation choice. Basically it's about manipulating genes to eliminate undesirable qualities, and the ethics and legalities that go into the research (but in novel form). The story itself is fine (though it annoyed me how long it took for him to relate each subplot to each other), but the points it raised were interesting.
Crichton addressed some of them in a 'what I learned while researching for this' at the end of the book. One issue is that a company can patent a gene. If the company holds the patent, no one else can do research with it. Meaning that if Company 1 decides to use gene xq2 holds the cure for Leukemia, Company 2 can't do research to see if it holds the cure for Parkinson's. Thus the cure for Parkinson's may be in gene xq2, but no one can find it because Company 1 has the rights to it.
Another issue is who has the rights to a person's tissue once it has left the body. I may have donated my tissue to find a cure for cancer (which I don't have), but when that study folds, they may sell my tissue to a study about Huntington's Disease. If I have a family history of Huntington's, however, I may not want my tissue used for that test, because if they find it in my tissue, the insurance company might cancel my insurance.
There were other issues, too. It was interesting. And that is why I wanted to read the Chesterton book about eugenics. Crichton mentioned it as an example of someone seeing how science can be used, 'for good,' with it boiling down to something potentially evil.
"Next" is an alright book, but it's the real stuff at the end that makes it potentially worth reading.