From sequencing to annotating: extending the metaphor of the book of life from genetics to genomics.

The article discusses how the metaphor of the Book of Life was extended over time to cover the life cycle of the Human Genome Project from genetics to genomics. In particular, the focus is on the role of extendable metaphors in the debate on the Human Genome Project in three European newspapers, popular scientific journals and scientific and scholarly articles from 1990 to 2002. In these different domains of use, various parts of the metaphor were highlighted. The metaphor of Book of Life was mainly used to justify the continuation of the gene research from gene sequencing to comparative genomics. Readily extendable metaphors, such as the Book of Life, function as useful communicative tools both over time and across domains of use.