Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health

About This Book

The new science of how our DNA mutates over our lifetimes, with radical implications for our health and medical treatments. We tend to think of Darwinian evolution as a process that plays out over generations. But our understanding of natural selection is itself evolving. Science writer Roxanne Khamsi reveals our bodies as active landscapes of evolution. Genetic mutations are constantly happening within your body—even as you read this. In this astonishing book, Khamsi shows how our bodies comprise cells that change over the course of a lifetime, mutating, competing, and evolving. Our immune systems fight viruses by evolving millions of different cells that produce distinct antibodies for dealing with invaders, while cancer and bacterial cells evolve in response to our bodies' attempts to destroy them. Meanwhile, the random mutations of cells throughout our bodies have immense potential to harm us—and heal us. Beyond Inheritance reveals our DNA as a dynamic, mutating entity. By letting go of the antiquated idea that each cell has the same exact DNA and embracing a messier—but truer—reality, we can usher in a whole new era of medicine. Khamsi introduces readers to the scientists who are harnessing evolutionary forces to design vaccines and to battle cancer. This book will open your eyes to the immense and ongoing genetic diversity that exists within each human body and its incredible potential to impact your health and well-being.

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