Author: Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1613748604 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 340
Book Description
Would you cut out your healthy breasts and ovaries if you thought it might save your life? That's not a theoretical question for journalist Lizzie Stark's relatives, who grapple with the horrific legacy of cancer built into the family DNA, a BRCA mutation that has robbed most of her female relatives of breasts, ovaries, peace of mind, or life itself. In Pandora's DNA, Stark uses her family's experience to frame a larger story about the so-called breast cancer genes, exploring the morass of legal quandaries, scientific developments, medical breakthroughs, and ethical concerns that surround the BRCA mutations, from the troubling history of prophylactic surgery and the storied origins of the boob job to the landmark lawsuit against Myriad Genetics, which held patents on the BRCA genes every human carries in their body until the Supreme Court overturned them in 2013. Although a genetic test for cancer risk may sound like the height of scientific development, the treatment remains crude and barbaric. Through her own experience, Stark shows what it's like to live in a brave new world where gazing into a crystal ball of genetics has many unintended consequences.
Author: Lizzie Stark Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1613748639 Category : Biography & Autobiography Languages : en Pages : 336
Book Description
2015 ALA Notable Book Would you cut out your healthy breasts and ovaries if you thought it might save your life? That's not a theoretical question for journalist Lizzie Stark's relatives, who grapple with the horrific legacy of cancer built into the family DNA, a BRCA mutation that has robbed most of her female relatives of breasts, ovaries, peace of mind, or life itself. In Pandora's DNA, Stark uses her family's experience to frame a larger story about the so-called breast cancer genes, exploring the morass of legal quandaries, scientific developments, medical breakthroughs, and ethical concerns that surround the BRCA mutations, from the troubling history of prophylactic surgery and the storied origins of the boob job to the landmark lawsuit against Myriad Genetics, which held patents on the BRCA genes every human carries in their body until the Supreme Court overturned them in 2013. Although a genetic test for cancer risk may sound like the height of scientific development, the treatment remains crude and barbaric. Through her own experience, Stark shows what it's like to live in a brave new world where gazing into a crystal ball of genetics has many unintended consequences.
Author: Spencer Wells Publisher: Random House ISBN: 0679603743 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 257
Book Description
Ten thousand years ago, our species made a radical shift in its way of life: We became farmers rather than hunter-gatherers. Although this decision propelled us into the modern world, renowned geneticist and anthropologist Spencer Wells demonstrates that such a dramatic change in lifestyle had a downside that we’re only now beginning to recognize. Growing grain crops ultimately made humans more sedentary and unhealthy and made the planet more crowded. The expanding population and the need to apportion limited resources created hierarchies and inequalities. Freedom of movement was replaced by a pressure to work that is the forebear of the anxiety millions feel today. Spencer Wells offers a hopeful prescription for altering a life to which we were always ill-suited. Pandora’s Seed is an eye-opening book for anyone fascinated by the past and concerned about the future.
Author: J. Tramper Publisher: Springer ISBN: 9086867251 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 284
Book Description
According to Greek mythology Pandora was sent down to earth upon the orders of Zeus. She was given a mysterious box which she was not allowed to open. However, Pandora was very curious and when she arrived on earth she couldn't help taking a peek inside the box. She saw that it was filled with gifts and calamities and to her astonishment they all escaped and spread throughout humanity, with all the dire consequences thereof. Only hope was left at the bottom. Figuratively speaking, Pandora's box today represents a source of much suffering. Is modern biotechnology just such a Pandora's box, as the anti-biotechnology lobby would have us believe? Or can we selectively release the gifts and turn this new Pandora's box into a Panacea? Modern biotechnology makes use of the recombinant DNA technology to genetically modify microorganisms, plants and animals in order to make them more suitable for all kinds of applications, such as cultivating food crops, baking bread, making wine, antibiotics and hormones, xenotransplantation, and gene- and stem cell therapy. The book also particularly addresses the controversial aspects of these applications.
Author: Kathryn Lance Publisher: Warner Books (NY) ISBN: 9780445200043 Category : Fiction Languages : en Pages : 279
Book Description
Science fiction-roman. The world of the future is teetering on the brink of decay. There is no fuel for the rusting machines, and mutated DNA is wreaking havoc on the gene pool. Who will save humanity from itself?
Author: Alan McHughen Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA ISBN: 0190092963 Category : DNA. Languages : en Pages : 393
Book Description
"DNA Demystified satisfies the public appetite for and curiosity about DNA and genetics ... [The author], an accomplished academic and public science advocate, brings the reader up-to-speed on what we know, what we don't, and where genetic technologies are taking us. The book begins with the basic groundwork and a brief history of DNA and genetics. Chapters then cover newsworthy topics, including DNA fingerprinting, using DNA in forensic analyses, and identifying cold-case criminals. For readers intrigued by at-home DNA tests, the text includes fascinating explorations of genetic genealogy and family tree construction--crucial for people seeking their biological ancestry. Other chapters describe genetic engineering in medicine and pharmaceuticals, and the use of those same technologies in creating the far more controversial GMOs in food and agriculture. Throughout, the book raises provocative ethical and privacy issues arising from DNA and genetic technologies"--
Author: Andrea Kates Publisher: McGraw Hill Professional ISBN: 0071778543 Category : Business & Economics Languages : en Pages : 257
Book Description
Combat flat sales, capture new markets, and drive innovation using the Business Genome approach The Business Genome is a proprietary database that tracks company data, maps it across data of all industries, detects patterns, and determines precisely how that company should plan for the future. In Find Your Next, Business Genome creator Andrea Kates explains how to ensure growth and prosperity in years to come. She provides the tools you need to create you business “genome,” or DNA—your company’s unique position in today’s market based on strengths, challenges, industry trends, and other factors—match it to that of a successful company in another industry, then model your own decisions on those of the matching company.
Author: Lizzie Stark Publisher: Chicago Review Press ISBN: 1613740670 Category : Games & Activities Languages : en Pages : 274
Book Description
Exposing a subculture only beginning to enter the imagination of mainstream America, this is the story of live action role-playing (LARP) games. A hybrid of games—such as Dungeons & Dragons, historical reenactment, fandom, and good old-fashioned pretend—LARP games are thriving and this book explores its multifaceted culture and related phenomenon, including the Society for Creative Anachronism, a medieval reenactment group that boasts more than 32,000 members. The history of LARP is detailed and is shown to have arisen from the pageantry of Tudor England and is currently being used as a training tool for the U.S. military. Along the way, the author duels foes with foam-padded weapons, lets the great elder god Cthulhu destroy her parents' beach house, and endures an existential awakening in the high-art LARP scene of Scandinavia.
Author: Caius Rommens Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781986600835 Category : Crops Languages : en Pages : 84
Book Description
-THIS BOOK HAS SERVED ITS FUNCTION AND IS RETIRED-GMO potatoes are quietly entering the market place with innocuous names such as Innate, White, and Hibernate. They are suggested to have maintained all the original traits of normal potatoes and to have gained three new traits: enhanced disease resistance, enhanced uniformity, and enhanced healthiness. However, the reality is different. As a crop, the potatoes contain genetically unstable traits, two of which appear to have been lost already (or are in the process of being lost), suffer a significant yield drag and reduction in size profile, conceal bruises and potentially spread diseases, may be grown and stored in ways that maximize disease and pest pressures, and were developed through an act of biopiracy. As a processed food, they lost the sensory attributes that make normal potato foods so attractive, and they are also likely to contain new toxins. If it were up to me, the creator of these potatoes, I would call them Pandora's Potatoes. They are the worst GMOs ever commercialized.
Author: Libby Copeland Publisher: Abrams ISBN: 1683358937 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 196
Book Description
“A fascinating exploration of the mysteries ignited by DNA genealogy testing—from the intensely personal and concrete to the existential and unsolvable.” —Tana French, New York Times–bestselling author You swab your cheek or spit in a vial, then send it away to a lab somewhere. Weeks later you get a report that might tell you where your ancestors came from or if you carry certain genetic risks. Or, the report could reveal a long-buried family secret that upends your entire sense of identity. Soon a lark becomes an obsession, a relentless drive to find answers to questions at the core of your being, like “Who am I?” and “Where did I come from?” Welcome to the age of home genetic testing. In The Lost Family, journalist Libby Copeland investigates what happens when we embark on a vast social experiment with little understanding of the ramifications. She explores the culture of genealogy buffs, the science of DNA, and the business of companies like Ancestry and 23andMe, all while tracing the story of one woman, her unusual results, and a relentless methodical drive for answers that becomes a thoroughly modern genetic detective story. Gripping and masterfully told, The Lost Family is a spectacular book on a big, timely subject. “An urgently necessary, powerful book that addresses one of the most complex social and bioethical issues of our time.” —Dani Shapiro, New York Times–bestselling author “Before you spit in that vial, read this book.” —The New York Times Book Review “Impeccably researched . . . up-to-the-minute science meets the philosophy of identity in a poignant, engaging debut.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Author: 
Author: Lizzie Stark
Author: Spencer Wells
Author: J. Tramper
Author: Kathryn Lance
Author: Alan McHughen
Author: Andrea Kates
Author: Lizzie Stark
Author: Caius Rommens
Author: Libby Copeland