Neither minimizing the difficulty of the choices that modern genetics has created for us nor fearing them, Cowan argues that we can improve the quality of our own lives and the lives of our children by using the modern science and technology of genetic screening responsibly.

As a speaker on women's health and the CEO of an internationally recognized anti-aging center of excellence, Genie James knows all too well that many women are spending too much money, time, and worry battling thickening waists, wrinkles, memory loss, and low libido. Besieged by a mountain of anti-aging information and products, James found too much of it was marketing hype written by researchers with financial ties to companies touting the fountain of youth. In this eye-opening read, James doesn't just tell women how to slow the aging process; she offers a revolutionary approach to change the aging process, securing a much healthier, happier, and more vibrant future. Medical miracles really do have the potential to reduce our risk of chronic disease while positively impacting long-term health, sexuality, and longevity, and there are things you can do to override your genes to age slower, happier, and better. But, shift happens, as they say, and there are some things you can't change, and some things that are downright dangerous. James shares the good, the bad, and the ugly. With refreshing candor, case studies, and insights about her personal struggles with gravity and greying, James sifts through the latest science to help women devise a personalized plan to overhaul key areas of health, from hormones, heart and breast health, to weight loss, memory, moods, and their sex lives.

2019 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award Finalist "Science book of the year"—The Guardian One of New York Times 100 Notable Books for 2018 One of Publishers Weekly's Top Ten Books of 2018 One of Kirkus's Best Books of 2018 One of Mental Floss's Best Books of 2018 One of Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2018 “Extraordinary”—New York Times Book Review "Magisterial"—The Atlantic "Engrossing"—Wired "Leading contender as the most outstanding nonfiction work of the year"—Minneapolis Star-Tribune Celebrated New York Times columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer presents a profoundly original perspective on what we pass along from generation to generation. Charles Darwin played a crucial part in turning heredity into a scientific question, and yet he failed spectacularly to answer it. The birth of genetics in the early 1900s seemed to do precisely that. Gradually, people translated their old notions about heredity into a language of genes. As the technology for studying genes became cheaper, millions of people ordered genetic tests to link themselves to missing parents, to distant ancestors, to ethnic identities... But, Zimmer writes, “Each of us carries an amalgam of fragments of DNA, stitched together from some of our many ancestors. Each piece has its own ancestry, traveling a different path back through human history. A particular fragment may sometimes be cause for worry, but most of our DNA influences who we are—our appearance, our height, our penchants—in inconceivably subtle ways.” Heredity isn’t just about genes that pass from parent to child. Heredity continues within our own bodies, as a single cell gives rise to trillions of cells that make up our bodies. We say we inherit genes from our ancestors—using a word that once referred to kingdoms and estates—but we inherit other things that matter as much or more to our lives, from microbes to technologies we use to make life more comfortable. We need a new definition of what heredity is and, through Carl Zimmer’s lucid exposition and storytelling, this resounding tour de force delivers it. Weaving historical and current scientific research, his own experience with his two daughters, and the kind of original reporting expected of one of the world’s best science journalists, Zimmer ultimately unpacks urgent bioethical quandaries arising from new biomedical technologies, but also long-standing presumptions about who we really are and what we can pass on to future generations.

This book discusses the nature - nurture debate as it relates to human intelligence.

Bonduriansky and Day challenge the premise that genes alone mediate the transmission of biological information across generations and provide the raw material for natural selection. They explore the latest research showing that what happens during our lifetimes--and even our parents' and grandparents' lifetimes--can influence the features of our descendants. Based on this evidence, Bonduriansky and Day develop an extended concept of heredity that upends ideas about how traits can and cannot be transmitted across generations, opening the door to a new understanding of inheritance, evolution, and even human health. --Adapted from publisher description.

Written by a mother whose son has fragile X syndrome and autism this book is about her reaction and coping strategies in relating to her son. She openly discusses working through her grief, anger and fears that her son's diagnosis brought and reinforces that it is possible to survive and find joy in parenting a special needs child.

Recent discoveries in molecular biology have shown that genes governing life processes in widely different organisms from yeast to humans are essentially alike. That is the underlying theme of this book as it looks for meaning in the natural world while exploring complex questions in molecular genetics. Ackerman, a former staff writer for National Geographic and a nature author (Notes from the Shore), weaves her own personal experiences into this popular account of the natural history of heredity. (When she is pregnant with her first child, Ackerman worries that the baby will inherit the gene that caused the retardation of her younger sister.) Topics range from development and sex determination to biological clocks and cell death, and more.