Cartoon Guide to Genetics

Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland

Bryan Sykes · 306 pages

A study based on a decade-long DNA survey traces the genetic makeup of British Islanders and their descendants, ranging from prehistoric times to the genetic heritage of Americans of British descent.

The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures

Christine Kenneally · 361 pages

"How biology, psychology, and history shape us as individuals We are doomed to repeat history if we fail to learn from it, but how are we affected by the forces that are invisible to us? In The Invisible History of the Human Race Christine Kenneally draws on cutting-edge research to reveal how both historical artifacts and DNA tell us where we come from and where we may be going. While some books

The Philadelphia Chromosome: A Mutant Gene and the Quest to Cure Cancer at the Genetic Level

Jessica Wapner · 323 pages

This work discusses the history of a genetic mutation, discovered in 1959, that causes chronic myeloid leukemia, and traces the research and breakthroughs that led to the creation of a drug that makes this once-fatal illness now treatable. It focuses on what is widely viewed as the 'poster child' of rational drug development in the cancer research world. The history of the founding of a genetic mu

The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey

Spencer Wells · 224 pages

"Showing how the secrets about our ancestors are hidden in our genetic code, Spencer Wells reveals how developments in the cutting-edge science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. We now know not only where our ancestors lived but who they fought, loved, and influenced.". "Informed by this new science, The Journey of Man is replete with

Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives--and Our Lives Change Our Genes

Sharon Moalem · 272 pages

In this book, the author, a physician and writer employs his wide-ranging and 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. He explains new concepts in human genetics and health that indicate that the fundamental nature of the human

A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution

Jennifer A. Doudna, Samuel H. Sternberg · 304 pages

**A trailblazing biologist grapples with her role in the biggest scientific discovery of our era: a cheap, easy way of rewriting genetic code, with nearly limitless promise and peril.** Not since the atomic bomb has a technology so alarmed its inventors that they warned the world about its use. Not, that is, until the spring of 2015, when biologist Jennifer Doudna called for a worldwide morator

Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance

Richard C. Francis · 234 pages

Discusses how scientific evidence is increasingly showing a link between the stress of the environment on an individual and the seemingly inherited traits of his or her subsequent generations.

Time, Love, Memory: A Great Biologist and His Quest for the Origins of Behavior

Jonathan Weiner · 310 pages

The story of a biologist's search for the foundations of behavior. Looking over the shoulder of some of the premier scientists in the field, biologist Weiner takes us into their laboratories to show us how pieces of DNA actually shape behavior. He focuses on the work of Seymour Benzer, who, decades ago, with James Watson and Francis Crick, helped to crack the genetic code. Then, in a simple experi

Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors

Nicholas Wade · 313 pages

Nicholas Wade's articles are a major reason why the science section has become the most popular, nationwide, in the New York Times. In his groundbreaking Before the Dawn, Wade reveals humanity's origins as never before—a journey made possible only recently by genetic science, whose incredible findings have answered such questions as: What was the first human language like? How large were the first

How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of de-Extinction

Beth Shapiro · 220 pages

"Could extinct species like mammoths and passenger pigeons be brought back to life? The science says yes. In [this book], Beth Shapiro, evolutionary biologist and pioneer in 'ancient DNA' research, walks readers through the astonishing and controversial process of de-extinction. From deciding which species should be restored, to sequencing their genomes, to anticipating how revived populations mig

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

Francis S. Collins · 304 pages

An instant bestseller, The Language of God provides the best argument for the integration of faith and logic since C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. It has long been believed that science and faith cannot mingle. Faith rejects the rational, while science restricts us to a life with no meaning beyond the physical. It is an irreconcilable war between two polar-opposite ways of thinking and living. Wri

The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology Is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance

Nessa Carey · 339 pages

"Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth. It explains why mapping an organism's genetic code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Surveying the twenty-year history of the field while also highlighting its latest findings and innova

My Beautiful Genome: Exposing Our Genetic Future, One Quirk at a Time

Lone Frank · 313 pages

Uses the author's probe into her own genes to explore questions and concerns about personalized genomics, including the accuracy of the forecasts made from the results and how much the environment can affect the body and mind.

River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life

Richard Dawkins · 172 pages

How did the replication bomb we call "life" begin and where in the world, or rather, in the universe, is it heading? Writing with characteristic wit and an ability to clarify complex phenomena (the New York Times described his style as "the sort of science writing that makes the reader feel like a genius"), Richard Dawkins confronts this ancient mystery. Dawkins has been named by the London Daily

The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution

Sean B. Carroll · 304 pages

DNA: The Secret of Life

James D. Watson, Andrew Berry · 464 pages

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race

Walter Isaacson · 560 pages

A scientific biography of Jennifer Doudna, a founder and co-developer of the CRISPR gene-editing mechanism, and an examination of what happened after CRISPR hit the marketplace.

Mapping Human History: Genes, Race, and Our Common Origins

Steve Olson · 298 pages

Mapping Human History is a comprehensive guide to the evolution of humans. The book is carefully chaptered into specific sections which focus on explaining both the geographical causes of human evolution (for example, isolation); the nature of which human characteristics are transferred to future generations by genetic processes; and the effects this has had on the distribution of humans across th

A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes

Adam Rutherford · 408 pages

In our unique genomes, every one of us carries the story of our species--births, deaths, disease, war, famine, migration, and a lot of sex. But those stories have always been locked away--until now. Who are our ancestors? Where did they come from? Geneticists have suddenly become historians, and the hard evidence in our DNA has blown the lid off what we thought we knew. Acclaimed science writer Ad

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot · 381 pages

Evolution in Four Dimensions: Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life

Eva Jablonka, Marion J. Lamb · 576 pages

The Sports Gene: Inside the Science of Extraordinary Athletic Performance

David Epstein · 338 pages

This book explores the roles of both genetics and training in athletic success, arguing that both are equally necessary components of athletic achievement while considering such topics as race, gender, and genetic testing.We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Nat

Neanderthal Man: In Search of Lost Genomes

Svante Paabo · 288 pages

"What can we learn from the genes of our closest evolutionary relatives? Neanderthal Man tells the story of geneticist Svante Paabo's mission to answer that question, beginning with the study of DNA in Egyptian mummies in the early 1980s and culminating in his sequencing of the Neanderthal genome in 2009. From Paabo, we learn how Neanderthal genes offer a unique window into the lives of our homini

Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters

Matt Ridley · 344 pages

The human genome, the complete set of genes housed in twenty-three pairs of chromosomes, is nothing less than an autobiography of our species. Spelled out in a billion three-letter words using the four-letter alphabet of DNA, the genome has been edited, abridged, altered and added to as it has been handed down, generation to generation, over more than three billion years. With the first draft of t