"Our genetic makeup determines so much about who we are, and what we pass on to our children--from eye color, to height, to health, and even our longevity. Genetics 101 breaks down the science of how genes are inherited and passed from parents to offspring, what DNA is and how it works, how your DNA affects your health, and how you can use your personal genomics to find out more about who you are and where you come from"--

"Understanding genetics is like sitting down to work a massive puzzle. With each piece you examine, think through, and solve, you glean a new and amazing insight into humanity. Put several pieces together, and you can treat or cure a disease, save a developing fetus from a fatal birth defect, catch a criminal, or reunite a family. Each lecture begins with a helpful story that illustrates the importance of genetics. The course explicitly outlines the...

Don Tillman, professor of genetics, has never been on a second date. He is a man who can count all his friends on the fingers of one hand, whose lifelong difficulty with social rituals has convinced him that he is simply not wired for romance. So when an acquaintance informs him that he would make a "wonderful" husband, his first reaction is shock. Yet he must concede to the statistical probability that there is someone for everyone, and he embarks...

Nearly fifteen years ago, in The End of Nature, Bill McKibben demonstrated that humanity had begun to irrevocably alter and endanger our environment on a global scale. Now he turns his eye to an array of technologies that could change our relationship not with the rest of nature but with ourselves. He explores the frontiers of genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology, all of which we are approaching with astonishing speed and shows that each...

"Around 60,000 years ago, a man, genetically identical to us, lived in Africa. Every person alive today is descended from him. Examining the hidden secrets of human evolution in our genetic code, the author reveals how developments in the revolutionary science of population genetics have made it possible to create a family tree for the whole of humanity. Replete with anecdotes and information, from the truth about the real Adam and Eve to the way...

"In The Disappearing Spoon, bestselling author Sam Kean unlocked the mysteries of the periodic table. In THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB, he explores the wonders of the magical building block of life: DNA. There are genes to explain crazy cat ladies, why other people have no fingerprints, and why some people survive nuclear bombs. Genes illuminate everything from JFK's bronze skin (it wasn't a tan) to Einstein's genius. They prove that Neanderthals and humans...

"When Jennifer Doudna was in sixth grade, she came home one day to find that her dad had left a paperback titled The Double Helix on her bed. She put it aside, thinking it was one of those detective tales she loved. When she read it on a rainy Saturday, she discovered she was right, in a way. As she sped through the pages, she became enthralled by the intense drama behind the competition to discover the code of life. Even though her high school counselor...

Draws on a systematic ten-year DNA survey of more than ten thousand volunteers from across Britain, Ireland, and America to trace the true genetic makeup of the British Isles and their descendants, and explore how the descendents of the Saxons, Vikings, and Celts are still shaping the world.

Crisscrossing the continent, a renowned geneticist provides a groundbreaking examination of America through its DNA.

"A researched exploration of the promises and vulnerabilities of having children in an age of genetic tests and interventions considers key scientific, technological and political factors while sharing the stories of men and women struggling to understand the range of the tests and their revelations,"--NoveList.