Genetic Twists Of Fate

How tiny variations in our personal DNA can determine how we look, how we behave, how we get sick, and how we get well. News stories report almost daily on the remarkable progress scientists are making in unraveling the genetic basis of disease and behavior. Meanwhile, new technologies are rapidly reducing the cost of reading someone's personal DNA (all six billion letters of it). Within the next ten years, hospitals may present parents with their newborn's complete DNA code along with her footprints and APGAR score. In Genetic Twists of Fate, distinguished geneticists Stanley Fields and Mark Johnston help us make sense of the genetic revolution that is upon us. Fields and Johnston tell real life stories that hinge on the inheritance of one tiny change rather than another in an individual's DNA: a mother wrongly accused of poisoning her young son when the true killer was a genetic disorder; the screen siren who could no longer remember her lines because of Alzheimer's disease; and the president who was treated with rat poison to prevent another heart attack. In an engaging and accessible style, Fields and Johnston explain what our personal DNA code is, how a few differences in its long list of DNA letters makes each of us unique, and how that code influences our appearance, our behavior, and our risk for such common diseases as diabetes or cancer.

Some believe that fate rules our lives, while others dismiss the idea outright. Fate remains central to many cultural outlooks, and in our age of conflict, climate change, and pandemic, it features conspicuously in debates about the future. A careful examination of this important idea – its background, many meanings, and significance for everyday life – is not only informative and intriguing but also timely. In Fate and Life Michael Fox confronts the idea of fate head on and demonstrates that how we interpret and apply this concept can make it work for rather than against us. Many discussions characterize fate negatively or as part of the occult, representing it as a supernatural force that stifles our freedom. Fateful ideas have also helped rationalize and promote the persecution of certain groups. But viewed more positively, fate can be understood as the given conditions of existence and the imponderable way certain unanticipated events momentously alter the path we follow over time. Thinking about fate teaches us about who we are, how we see the world, and our evaluation of the possibilities of life. Fate and Life provides a multicultural and global account of how we talk about the idea of fate, how we use and misuse it, and how it contrasts with notions like destiny and karma. Fox’s original perspective – a breakthrough in philosophy and the history of ideas – shows that fate is supported by experience; it is compatible with our sense of agency and purpose; and it helps us make sense of our lives.

What are genes? What do genes do? These seemingly simple questions are in fact challenging to answer accurately. As a result, there are widespread misunderstandings and over-simplistic answers, which lead to common conceptions widely portrayed in the media, such as the existence of a gene 'for' a particular characteristic or disease. In reality, the DNA we inherit interacts continuously with the environment and functions differently as we age. What our parents hand down to us is just the beginning of our life story. This comprehensive book analyses and explains the gene concept, combining philosophical, historical, psychological and educational perspectives with current research in genetics and genomics. It summarises what we currently know and do not know about genes and the potential impact of genetics on all our lives. Making Sense of Genes is an accessible but rigorous introduction to contemporary genetics concepts for non-experts, undergraduate students, teachers and healthcare professionals.

A top behavioral geneticist makes the case that DNA inherited from our parents at the moment of conception can predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses. In Blueprint, behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin describes how the DNA revolution has made DNA personal by giving us the power to predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth. A century of genetic research shows that DNA differences inherited from our parents are the consistent lifelong sources of our psychological individuality—the blueprint that makes us who we are. Plomin reports that genetics explains more about the psychological differences among people than all other factors combined. Nature, not nurture, is what makes us who we are. Plomin explores the implications of these findings, drawing some provocative conclusions—among them that parenting styles don't really affect children's outcomes once genetics is taken into effect. This book offers readers a unique insider's view of the exciting synergies that came from combining genetics and psychology. The paperback edition has a new afterword by the author.

Huntington's Disease causes degeneration of brain cells, in motor control regions of the brain, as well as other areas. Symptoms get progressively worse, and include uncontrolled movements, abnormal body postures, and changes in emotion, behavior, judgment, and cognition. People with HD also develop impaired coordination, slurred speech, and difficulty feeding and swallowing. Provide your readers with essential information on HD. This book also serves as a historical survey, by providing information on the controversies surrounding its causes. Compelling first-person narratives by people coping with Huntington's Disease give readers a first-hand experience. Patients, family members, or caregivers explain the condition from their own experience. The symptoms, causes, treatments, and potential cures are explained in detail. Essential to anyone trying to learn about diseases and conditions, the alternative treatments are explored. Student researchers and readers will find this book easily accessible through its careful and conscientious editing and a thorough introduction to each essay.

An anthropological study based on ethnographic work in Israel and Qatar explores the relationship between science, particularly genetics, and national identity. Based on ethnographic work in Israel and Qatar, two small Middle Eastern ethnonations with significant biomedical resources, Genomic Citizenship explores the relationship between science and identity. Ian McGonigle, originally trained as a biochemist, draws on anthropological theory, STS, intellectual history, critical theory, Middle Eastern studies, cultural studies, and critical legal studies. He connects biomedical research on ethnic populations to the political, economic, legal, and historical context of the state; to global trends in genetic medicine; and to the politics of identity in the context of global biomedical research. Genomic Citizenship is more an anthropology of scientific objects than an anthropology of scientists or an ethnography of the laboratory. McGonigle bases his untraditional project on traditional anthropological methods, including participant observation. Some of the most persuasive data in the book are from public records, legal and historical sources, published scientific papers, institutional reports, websites, and brochures. McGonigle discusses biological understandings of Jewishness, especially in relation to the intellectual history of Zionism and Jewish political thought, and considers the possibility of a novel application of genetics in assigning Israeli citizenship. He also describes developments in genetic medicine in Qatar and analyzes the Qatari Biobank in the context of Qatari nationalism and state-building projects. Considering possible consequences of findings on the diverse origins of the Qatari population for tribal identities, he argues that the nation cannot be defined as either a purely natural or biological entity. Rather, it is reified, reinscribed, and refracted through genomic research and discourse.

Winner of the IAJS award for best authored book of 2018! C. G. Jung had a profound interest in and involvement with astrology, which he made clear in virtually every volume of the Collected Works, as well as in many of his letters. This ancient symbolic system was of primary importance in his understanding of the nature of time, the archetypes, synchronicity, and human fate. Jung’s Studies in Astrology is an historical survey of his astrological work from the time he began to study the subject. It is based not only on his published writings, but also on the correspondence and documents found in his private archives, many of which have never previously seen the light of day. Liz Greene addresses with thoroughness and detailed scholarship the nature of Jung’s involvement with astrology: the ancient, medieval, and modern sources he drew on, the individuals from whom he learned, his ideas about how and why it worked, its religious and philosophical implications, and its applications in the treatment of his patients as well as in his own self-understanding. Greene clearly demonstrates that any serious effort to understand the development of Jung’s psychological theories, as well as the nature of his world-view, needs to involve a thorough exploration of his astrological work. This thorough investigation of a central theme in Jung’s work will appeal to analytical psychologists and Jungian psychotherapists, students and academics of Jungian and post-Jungian theory, the history of psychology, archetypal thought, mythology and folklore, the history of New Age movements, esotericism, and psychological astrology.

In this book, Professor Anatoly Buchachenko gives a brief and informative description of the most striking achievements and discoveries made in the major natural sciences at the turn of the century – in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. The author has a rare ability to describe scientific discoveries so that these achievements and their significance are understandable not only by professionals and scientists of all specialities, but for any reader interested in modern science, its role in the existence of mankind, and its impact on human society. Originally published in Russian, Professor Buchachenko’s book describes the interaction of natural sciences with social ones—philosophy and history—as well as the part played by the human factor in the development of science, especially the role of the great scientists.