"Contrary to popular belief, your genetic destiny is not preordained," begins this reference guide. Following up on his Choices, Not Chances, Milunsky, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and pathology at Boston University, argues that numerous external mitigating factors can derail or change one's seeming fate and that some are under our control. Using Milunsky's tips for compiling a family health history, readers can decide if they are candidates for genetic counseling. Counseling, Milunsky explains, details medical options, usually including genetic tests. Milunsky breaks the daunting process into component steps for specific ethnicities, genetic conditions and fertility issues, and deftly outlines the basic science, statistics and tests for inherited dispositions toward various disorders. (Cancer, mental illness, obesity, Alzheimer's, Down's syndrome, heart defects and depression are among those for which a gene has been found.) Milunsky's practical, bottom-line approach and his plethora of facts and statistics (e.g., 26 million people in the U.S. are affected by a genetic disorder) are largely persuasive and sometimes discouraging. He describes, for instance, a gene that "predisposes an individual to develop alarmingly high temperatures" while under anesthesia, which can lead to death if not detected immediately. Milunsky opines on inchoate legal and ethical issues (including the World Health Organization's proposed guidelines to informed consent for voluntary genetic testing), encouraging prospective parents to face difficult decisions armed with all the facts. Despite his impassioned rhetoric, Milunsky remains a measured, informed (and prolific this is his 13th book) voice for the genetic-interventionist camp.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The recent mapping of the basic draft of the human genome means that scientists can now identify and sequence most of the 30,000 to 40,000 genes estimated to comprise the human genome. Next, researchers will need to discover how these genes work in order to understand how to prevent or cure disease. Therefore, the dramatic title of this book, authored by a board-certified clinical geneticist, is fairly premature and probably refers to medical genetics in another decade or two. While the book discusses genetic testing and counseling and covers the major diseases with genetic elements (heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, diabetes, etc.), there are several problems with the text. The technical language will certainly challenge the average reader, and a glossary is not included. The forthright, even blunt, tone in the sections discussing options for detecting and preventing birth defects may seem insensitive to some readers ("Not bothering to determine all of the risks and options prior to conceiving a child who may be doomed to a lifetime of pain and suffering could be construed as a form of child abuse"), while others may strongly object to the author's prescriptive advice. Steer consumers instead to James Wynbrandt and Mark Ludman's The Encyclopedia of Genetic Disorders and Birth Defects (Facts On File, 1999. 2d ed.), which is "the" authoritative text on the subject yet is understandable and easy-to-use. Not recommended Gail Hendler, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Ctr., New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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