| | Blood Matters: From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies, How the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene |  | Author: Masha Gessen
Publisher: Harvest Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
Buy New: $10.20
You Save: $4.80 (32%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  5 reviews
Sales Rank: 4075225
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
ISBN: 0156033313
Dewey Decimal Number: 576
EAN: 9780156033312
ASIN: 0156033313
Publication Date: April 28, 2009 (In 203 Days)
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Not yet published
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Product Description
In 2004 genetic testing revealed that Masha Gessen had a mutation that predisposed her to ovarian and breast cancer. The discovery initiated Gessen into a club of sorts: the small (but exponentially expanding) group of people in possession of a new and different way of knowing themselves through what is inscribed in the strands of their DNA. As she wrestled with a wrenching personal decision—what to do with such knowledge—Gessen explored the landscape of this brave new world, speaking with others like her and with experts including medical researchers, historians, and religious thinkers. Blood Matters is a much-needed field guide to this unfamiliar and unsettling territory. It explores the way genetic information is shaping the decisions we make, not only about our physical and emotional health but about whom we marry, the children we bear, even the personality traits we long to have. And it helps us come to terms with the radical transformation that genetic information is engineering in our most basic sense of who we are and what we might become.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Genetic Diagnostics - To test or not to? April 5, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
The book describes the journey of the author who is diagnosed with a genetic mutation that predisposes her to ovarian and breast cancer. As she fights personal battle, she also tries to explore the field of genetic testing, its implications as well as ethical considerations.
The jacket cover of the book claims it is "a much needed field guide to this unfamiliar and unsettling territory." Well, it is not. It is more a rambling journey across a difficult terrain by a pioneer, discovering trails and gathering knowledge during the process. The lack of a science background and the inability to explain the fundamentals in a clear and structured way weakens the book. Explaining a complex science to the laymen is tough but has been mastered by authors like Carl Sagan, Brian Greene and Richard Dawkins. This book fails to reach that level.
However, it does capture well the agony of an individual who goes through a challenging situation created by new knowledge provided by science. This will definitely be something more of us go through in future as we will be forced to grapple with the information provided by genetic testing.
The book provides interesting information on Asheknazi Jews as well as organizations like Dor Yeshorim which collect genetic data to provide predictive information. In spite of her jewish heritage, the author covers the Nazi efforts on eugenics with equanimity. A number of genetic diseases and their current research status are covered in the book through many interviews with experts across the world. Nevertheless the lack of a clear structure, direction and focus wastes the author's efforts to a large extent.
a sharp mind focused on a difficult problem June 11, 2008
I took to Masha Gessen's writing immediately. Smart and inquisitive, she asks interesting questions and she displays both genuineness and insight over the course of her journey to make and justify her decision to undergo prophylactic mastectomies. She reveals moments when her professional facade breaks down and she finds herself reduced to a scared woman hoping the experts she consults can give her the wisdom she seeks. All through her story, however, she maintains an honesty and human sense of connection that makes this book an engaging read. Her search through the medical system, through economics (as the science of decision-making), through psychology and aesthetics, and through applied genetics makes fascinating reading. Anyone interested in locating the right questions to ask about genetic science and in considering the opinions of some of today's leading-edge thinkers and practitioners in this area will enjoy this book.
 How genetic information is reshaping the decision-making process June 20, 2008
BLOOD MATTERS: FROM INHERITED ILLNESS TO DESIGNER BABIES, HOW THE WORLD AND I FOUND OURSELVES IN THE FUTURE OF THE GENE tells of genetics using the author's foundation of experience as the starting point. In 2004 she was told she had a mutation that predisposed her to ovarian and breast cancer: the problem proved what to do with this knowledge. BLOOD MATTERS explores how genetic information is reshaping the decision-making process - and how these new decisions are reshaping knowledge of self. Any general interest lending library strong in health references will find this an excellent lend - as well as college-level collections strong in genetic health books.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Perceptive and well written July 1, 2008
This book is one of the few books on genetic screening that gives you a feel for the topic. It does this through personal journey as well as investigative journalism blending the two so as to explore the implications and inevitable consequences of genetic screening. It covers cancer, huntingtons and other rare hereditary conditions and illuminates the burdens and reliefs the current knowledges can provide. It is easy to read, compelling and wise. My only criticism would be the chapter on prenatal screening - this was not as well thought through and lacked the wisdom of the rest of the book. All in all it is a considerable achievement and I would highly recommend it to the general reader as well as those with a particular interest in medicine.
The future of genetic testing and how it will shape our health September 1, 2008
I find this book well written, informative, and engaging. I, too, recently tested positive for the BRCA-1 gene mutation and read the book in my research stages prior to my bilateral mastectomy. Contrary to Jessica Queller's personal account of her genetic testing and research, followed by the decision to have a double mastectomy, this book focuses much more on the genetic information available today and the power of knowledge. 'Blood Matters' showed me that genetic knowledge can help me make decisions that influence my health and that many other people and cultures have embraced the advantage of genetic testing in a positive way. I felt alienated and lonely when I tried explaining the power of genetic testing to some of my family members who are residing in Europe. Most of the family members that I approached had never heard of the genetic test and were uncomfortable talking about the subject. Reading "Blood Matters" gave me the feeling that I am part of a community, of a movement much larger than my personal experiences and it showed me that we are only in the beginning stages of what genetic testing can do to improve our health.
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