Inheritance
Dr. Sharon Moalem (Grand Central Publishing)
In Town: The author will appear at the Ottawa Writers Festival on April 24 at 6:30 p.m., Knox Presbyterian Church, 120 Lisgar St.
When Californian Craig Venter sequenced his own genome in the year 2000, he wittingly started a great transformation that is now taking hold in the delivery of health care. But that change is unfolding in a global society that is not ready.
Thats the warning delivered by Dr. Sharon Moalem, a medical doctor, geneticist, businessman, inventor and author of the book Inheritance: How Our Genes Change Our Lives and Our Lives Change Our Genes.
Moalem will appear at the Ottawa Writers Festival and what he has to say is kind of mind-blowing.
First of all, because we now have the ability to sequence everyones genome and see all the markers that a person has, we can see clearly the consequences of personal choices.
For example, one person may not be able to metabolize caffeine and probably shouldnt drink a lot of coffee, while another has no problem with sugar and can drink all the soft drinks she wants.
For Moalem, who has focused on rare diseases over his career, sequencing the genome, meant that we are all rare, every one of us. Not just the 10 per cent of Americans and Canadians who have a rare condition. We all have genetic idiosyncrasies that affect who we are and how we live.
Go here to read the rest:
Genetic science is transforming health care and introducing ethical dilemmas