Description

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Award-winning physician and New York Times bestselling author Sharon Moalem, MD, PhD, reveals how genetic breakthroughs are completely transforming our understanding of both the world and our lives.

Inheritance

Conventional wisdom dictates that our genetic destiny is fixed at conception. But Dr. Moalem's groundbreaking book shows us that the human genome is far more fluid and fascinating than your ninth grade biology teacher ever imagined. By bringing us to the bedside of his unique and complex patients, he masterfully demonstrates what rare genetic conditions can teach us all about our own health and well-being.

In the brave new world we're rapidly rocketing into, genetic knowledge has become absolutely crucial. Inheritance provides an indispensable roadmap for this journey by teaching you:

-Why you may have recovered from the psychological trauma caused by childhood bullying-but your genes may remain scarred for life.

-How fructose is the sugar that makes fruits sweet-but if you have certain genes, consuming it can buy you a one-way trip to the coroner's office.

-Why ingesting common painkillers is like dosing yourself repeatedly with morphine-if you have a certain set of genes.

-How insurance companies legally use your genetic data to predict the risk of disability for you and your children-and how that impacts the coverage decisions they make for your family.

-How to have the single most important conversation with your doctor-one that can save your life.

And finally:

-Why people with rare genetic conditions hold the keys to medical problems affecting millions.

In this trailblazing book, Dr. Moalem employs his wide-ranging and entertaining interdisciplinary approach to science and medicine-- explaining how art, history, superheroes, sex workers, and sports stars all help us understand the impact of our lives on our genes, and our genes on our lives. Inheritance will profoundly alter how you view your genes, your health--and your life.

About the Author

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Sharon Moalem, MD, PhD, is an award-winning scientist, physician, and New York Times bestselling author of the books Survival of the Sickest and How Sex Works. His research and writing blends medicine, genetics, history and biology, to explain how the human body works in new and fascinating ways. His internationally bestselling books have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Praise For…

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"Dr. Moalem tells fascinating stories so you will easily understand the complexities of modern genetic science." --Temple Grandin, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of The Autistic Brain and Thinking in Pictures

"In INHERITANCE, Sharon Moalem peels away at the complex discussion of nature and nurture by looking at how unique cases inform the fundamental system of genes, environments, and experiences-teaching us how our dynamic identities come into being."
--Dan Ariely, PhD, James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics, Duke University and New York Times bestselling author of Predictably Irrational

"This book is a thought provoking and most enlightening journey into the very essence of who we are. Dr. Moalem's writing style is clear and uses great examples to help us appreciate our genetic selves. In INHERITANCE we have a new understanding that we are not at all destined to any particular future or outcome encoded within our DNA. Indeed, the whole notion that life's events, trivial and non-trivial, shape who we are has profound consequences for how we live and, in fields like biotechnology, how this learning can help us better to diagnose, treat and cure- and to extend and enhance human life." --John F. Crowley, Chairman and CEO of Amicus Therapeutics, and author of Chasing Miracles: The Crowley Family Journey of Strength, Hope and Joy

"Dr. Moalem is an eloquent guide through the astonishing new world of genetic discovery - with all its implications for both personal health and public policy. If you've wondered about the impact of genetics on your life- read this book!" --Kinney Zalesne, New York Times bestselling author of Microtrends: The Small Forces Behind Tomorrow's Big Changes

"We have long thought that the genetic code we were born with was the genetic code we were stuck with. No longer. Dr. Moalem explains how the genetics that determine whether we get sick or stay healthy can change during the course of our lifetime, and we how can exert some control over these changes. In this exceedingly engaging and highly informative book, Dr. Moalem uses engrossing stories to make complicated genetics easily comprehensible to people without backgrounds in the biological sciences. Reading this book could literally affect generations to come." --J. Russell Teagarden, PhD. Senior Vice President, Medical and Scientific Affairs, National Organization For Rare Disorders (NORD)

"Many people will enjoy reading this easy to read book on a very complex, real and highly personal subject. It will remove mysteries and create others. It will give the lay reader a sense of the rapidly growing understanding of this field. I highly recommend it to everyone." --Henri A. Termeer, Former CEO and President of Genzyme Corp.

"Inheritance is a wide-ranging and breezily written survey of an immensely important field-the science of how we may "tweak" our fixed genetic heritage to produce health and well-being. The narrative moves quickly... It is especially thrilling for a geneticist, of all people, to emphasize "it's not only what our genes give us that's important, but also what we give to our genes." --Scientific American