Abraham Lincoln's DNA and Other Adventures in Genetics

Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2000. Later printing. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. xx, 339, [1] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. DJ has slight wear and soiling. The author was CEO of Interleukin Genetics, Ind. From 1990 to 2000 he was the Executive Director of the Shriver Center for Mental Retardation, Inc. The author has held faculty appointments at the Harvard Medical School and Brandeis University. He was President of the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics. He is the author of several books and has published more then 100 articles in scholarly journals. This work presents twenty-four true, wide-ranging tales of crime, history, human behavior, illness, and ethics, told from the personal perspective of the author, an eminent physician-lawyer who uses the stories to illustrate the principles of human genetics and to discuss the broader issues. This work includes brief references to President Theodore Roosevelt's interest in Positive Eugenics as expounded by Francis Galton (a cousin of Charles Darwin). For laypeople and professionals alike who yearn for a better understanding of genetically engineered crops, DNA fingerprinting, cloning, or gene therapy, here is a valuable addition to a small but critical literature that will frame the public discourse as it is decided how to use the burgeoning knowledge of the genome. The lessons are delivered in the course of fascinating historical tales (including an especially enjoyable chapter on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec) with a hint of Lewis Thomas-like awe and fascination with the power of genetic analysis. This work is a collection of twenty-four essays about genetics as well as a "mini-textbook" of genetic concepts and technologies. The stories illustrate how advances in genetics impact society in many areas including: history, justice, human behavior, plants and animals, diseases, and ethical dilemmas. Through Reilly's stories, the reader is exposed not only to the fundamentals of genetics, but also to the multitude of legal and ethical issues in a variety of areas such as privacy, agriculture, crime, property, health care, insurance, estate planning, and domestic relations.