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(More customer reviews)Misha Angrist's "Here is a human being: At the dawn of personal genomics" is a must read for anyone interested in knowing what's in his or her own DNA. I would further highly recommend it to anyone in the medicine or genetics field. This is the personal story of Misha Angrist who became one of the ten individuals that had their entire human genome sequenced through Dr. George Church's Personal Genome Project. This book delves into the humanity of the great question of "what DO I want to know about my DNA?" How comfortable are any of us with the knowledge that our DNA can suggest that we have inherited a predisposition to cancer or some other malady? The author does a wonderful job of approaching these questions from a myriad of ethical, legal, societal, and medical directions in a captivating, first-person narrative. This book has forever changed my views on what I would and would not want to know about my own DNA. What makes this book such a nice read is that it is a story full of fascinating people. Despite the impossibly complex science that goes into determining one's DNA sequence, the book never becomes trapped in technical speak (although the technical terminology, when present, is both accurate and accessible). I have previously read "The genome war" by James Shreeve and I consider this Angrist book to be the next chapter in the ever-unfolding genomic saga of the day.
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The first in-depth look at personal genomics: its larger-than-life research subjects; its entrepreneurs and do-it-yourselfers; its technology developers; the bewildered and overwhelmed physicians and regulators who must negotiate it; and what it means to be a "public genome" in a world where privacy is already under siege
In 2007, Misha Angrist became the fourth subject in the Personal Genome Project, George Church's ambitious plan to sequence the entire genomic catalog: every participant's twenty thousand–plus genes and the rest of his or her 6 billion base pairs. Church hopes to better understand how genes influence our physical traits, from height and athletic ability to behavior and weight, and our medical conditions, from cancer and diabetes to obesity and male pattern baldness. Now Angrist reveals startling information about the experiment's participants and scientists; how the experiment was, is, and will be conducted; the discoveries and potential discoveries; and the profound implications of having an unfiltered view of our hardwired selves for us and for our children.
DNA technology has already changed our health care, the food we eat, and our criminal justice system. Unlocking the secrets of our genomes opens the door not only to helping us understand why we are the way we are and potentially fixing what ails us but also to many other concerns: What exactly will happen to this information? Will it become just another marketing tool? Can it help us understand our ancestry, or will it merely reinforce old ideas of race? Can personal genomics help fix the U.S. health care system?
Here Is a Human Being explores these complicated questions while documenting Angrist's own fascinating journey-one that tens of thousands of us will soon make.
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