Ebook

The Language of Life (Ebook)

DNA and the Revolution in Personalised Medicine

The former head of the Human Genome Project reveals how you can join the personalised medicine revolution

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.

Publication date: 09/12/2010

£9.99

ISBN: 9781847652096

ISBN 10 / ASIN: B004FLJ6M8

Imprint: Profile Books

Subject: Science & Mathematics

Reviews for The Language of Life

'His groundbreaking work has changed the very ways we consider our health and examine disease'

President Barack Obama

'Does a superb job of humanizing a complex scientific and medical subject'

Starred Publishers Weekly, Pick of the Week

'He is a first-rate, entertaining expositor '

Kirkus

'With his prose reflecting a palpable excitement at the prospects of this new form of medicine ... Collins combines uplifting cases of direly afflicted people who benefited from knowledge gained by genetic screening, with exhortation of the reader to learn about and take advantage of existing and developing techniques of genetic screening'

Booklist

'A wonderfully crafted series of scientific stories... It is, indeed, the storytelling that is most compelling. Written in the first person, and often lapsing into the second person, the book gives one the sense of being in a private session with a thoughtful physician who is willing to explain things properly... a jewel of a book... Francis Collins has done a great service to society by writing The Language of Life'

Edison T Liu Nature Medicine

'Collins is a highly knowledgeable guide to an emerging area of medicine... an excellent book'

Peter Aldhous New Scientist

'[Collins'] excellent treatise empowers readers to understand the revolution, make use of it and push for policy change. The Language of Life is timely, current and full of moving stories'

Nature

'What makes this book stand out is the wealth of personal stories of tragedy and triumph over disease... timely indeed'

BBC Focus

'[Collins] is here to tell us that the era of personalised genetic testing is nigh. No one could be a more authoritative messenger than Collins'

Peter Forbes Guardian

'He writes as a scientist with a passion for medical progress'

Andrew Jack Financial Times

Francis Collins

Francis Collins is the director of the National Institute of Health in the United States, and former head of the Human Genome Project. His most recent book, The Language of God, was a New York Times bestseller.