The Language of Life
DNA and the Revolution in Personalised Medicine
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5,0 • 1 valoración
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- 6,99 €
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- 6,99 €
Descripción editorial
We are in the midst of a medical revolution: in just a few years, we will be able to have our complete DNA sequenced at an affordable cost. Analysing the content of our genomes will allow a powerful estimate of our future risks of illness - from cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease, to cancer and diabetes - which will help us devise our own personalised blueprint of preventive medicine. This will have enormous implications on everything from our day-to-day choices like diet and exercise, to childbearing and health insurance - and it may even challenge what we thought we knew about our ethnic histories.
Combining cutting-edge scientific research with practical advice, Francis Collins examines this remarkable phenomenon, which will transform healthcare worldwide. We now know that the language spoken by our DNA is the language of life itself, and in this important book Collins shows how reading that language will help save lives.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A medical revolution is upon us and bestselling author Collins (The Language of God), director of the National Institutes of Health, does a fabulous job of explaining its dimensions. Our knowledge of the genetic basis for disease has increased exponentially in recent years, and we are now able to understand and treat diseases at the molecular level with personalized medicine care based on an individual's genetic makeup. Collins presents cutting-edge science for lay readers who want to take control of their medical lives. In an enjoyable form, he discusses cancer, obesity, aging, racial differences, and a host of other concerns. Most fascinating is the way Collins discusses the medical advances currently in place and those soon to come that are directly attributable to the federal government's Human Genome Project, headed by Collins, and which mapped the entire human genome. Collins is also not shy about taking on large political issues. He points out problems with our current health-care system, discusses stem-cell research, and in a cogent commentary, recommends with caveats direct-to-consumer DNA testing. By using case studies throughout, he does a superb job of humanizing a complex scientific and medical subject. Illus.
