The Book of Man: The Human Genome Project and the Quest to Discover Our Genetic Heritage

Rather than focusing on the politics and intrigue behind the Human Genome Project (HGP), this exciting, valuable primer emphasizes the scientific breakthroughs and remaining hurdles facing the international cooperative effort to map the three million genes that comprise human DNA. Bodmer, a British geneticist and former president of the Human Genome Organization (which fosters global collaboration in genome mapping), and Observer science correspondent McKie believe the HGP will provide information vital to the treatment of diseases, understanding of individual differences in behavior and human evolution and the development of new pharmaceutical drugs. Inherited illnesses, such as cystic fibrosis and Huntington's chorea, are beginning to yield to molecular genetics, and the authors also show how ongoing research is raising the prospects for effective treatment of cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease. They conclude with a levelheaded look at the ethical issues surrounding genetic testing and gene theory, in which missing genes are inserted into people afflicted by inherited ailments. A tour de force of popular exposition. Illustrated. (Jan.)