The Misunderstood Gene Analysis

Biology fascinates me, simply because we are only able to live, think, and question because of it. It is, quite literally, the foundation of our existence. The academic pursuit to understand the messy and complex logic of life, at the molecular, cellular and organismal level, deeply appeals to me. I am particularly interested in Biomedical Science, as it delves deeper into human biology, and applies the scientific knowledge gleaned to help with disease understanding and treatment. I was piqued by what I had studied in biology class, on gene function and the problems associated with its dysfunction, thus I have explored some extracurricular material.
Michel Morange's “The Misunderstood Gene” changed my perception of the importance of genes in biological
This has been illustrated in literature where knockouts of genes thought to be essential to a certain function did not produce as drastic impacts. Therefore, since a gene can participate in varied uses, and one function can be satisfied by many genes, Morange rejects rigid genetic determinism, and argues that genes, in encoding for proteins, only provide a structure in which networks and organisational hierarchies are built to give rise to complex functions. This appears to be similar to the idea put forth by Richard Dawkins in “The Selfish Gene”, where he describes genes as creating survival machines whose daily action is quite far removed from the gene itself. Also, it is likely that genes and proteins evolved parallel to each other, instead of sequentially, such that natural selection established a relation between gene structure and a particular protein structure. Thus genes only serve as a tool to effectively reproduce and transmit the structure of proteins from generation to generation. They matter in life, but only in indirect and complicated