“Indelible...Much like Ann Fadiman's The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, this is a heroic work of cultural and medical journalism.”—Laura Miller, Salon.com
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
An adjunct instructor at the University of Akron quits when he’s told he must submit to DNA testing; the government drafts new proposed legislation protecting the privacy of genetic information – it’s open for public comment until the end of November.
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
In a starred pre-publication review, Publishers Weekly calls The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (about HeLa, by yours truly), “a remarkable debut … a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society’s most vulnerable people.” See post for full review, and the book’s shiny new cover!
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009
DNA from thousands of people being tested without their knowledge. Suspicious spouses are sneaking DNA samples from their partner’s underwear; men and women are covertly testing their children to find out if they’re really biologically related, and several companies have cropped up to help them.
