She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Story of Heredity, Its Past, Present and Future

"In this thought-provoking book, award-winning New York Times columnist and science writer Carl Zimmer presents a history of our understanding of heredity, in a wide-ranging, ambitious and original investigation of a force that has crucially shaped human society--and is set to shape our future even more radically. Heredity isn't a simple matter of genes that pass from parent to child. It continues within our own bodies, as a single cell gives rise to the trillions that make up an adult. We say we inherit genes from our ancestors--using a verb that once specifically referred to kingdoms and aristocratic estates--but we also inherit other things that matter as much or more to our lives, from microbes to the technologies we use to make life more comfortable. We need a new--broader-ranging--definition of what heredity is. Weaving historical and current scientific research, original reporting and his own experience as a father of two daughters, Zimmer unpacks the urgent ethical quandries that arise from new biomedical technologies, but also long-standing presumptions about who we really are and what it is that we can pass on to future generations"--Back cover.