Living with Our Genes
The Groundbreaking Book About the Science of Personality, Behavior, and Genetic Destiny
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
"A lucid, thought-provoking account of the case for 'nature' as a determinant of personality."
—Peter D. Kramer, Author of Listening to Prozac and Should You Leave?
Nowhere is the nature-nuture controversy being more arduously tested than in the labs of world-renowned molecular scientist Dean Hamer, whose cutting-edge research has indisputably linked specific genes to behavioral traits, such as anxiety, thrill-seeking, and homosexuality. The culmination of that research os this provocative book, Living with Our Genes. In it, Dr. Hamer reveals that much of our behavior—how much we eat and weigh, whether we drink or use drugs, how often we have sex—is heavily influenced by genes. His findings help explain why one brother becomes a Wall Street trader, while his sibling remains content as a librarian, or why some people like to bungee-jump, while others prefer Scrabble. Dr. Hamer also sheds light on some of the most compelling and vexing aspects of personality, such as shyness, aggression, depression, and intelligence.
In the tradition of the bestselling book Listening to Prozac, Living with Our Genes is the first comprehensive investigation of the crucial link between our DNA and our behavior.
"Compulsive reading, reminiscent of Jared Diamond, froma scientsit who knows his stuff and communicates it well."
—Kirkus Reviews
"A pioneer in the field of molecular psychology, Hamer is exploring the role genes play in governing the very core of our individuality. Accessible...provocative."
—Time
"Absolutely terrific! I couldn't put it down."
—Professor Robert Plomin, Social, Genetic & Developmental Psychiatry Research Center, Institute of Psychiatry
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a light, breezy style, Hamer, a biologist at the National Cancer Institute, and Copeland attempt to explain the extent to which our genes control our lives. In their second collaboration (following The Science of Desire), the authors devote chapters to the most compelling of human behaviors and conditions: sex, worry, anger, thrill-seeking, addiction, intelligence, eating and aging. They explore the biochemistry underlying the characteristics in question, and ask how much of that biochemistry is under genetic control. Along the way, a great number of fascinating pieces of information are related--e.g., that some researchers have proposed "that the brain has a set point for happiness just as the body has a set point for weight," and that "men with the high-anxiety form of the serotonin transporter gene had sex more often than those with the low-anxiety form." While the authors go to great lengths to remind readers that "predisposition is not predestination"--that genes may well play a role regarding complex behaviors but not necessarily a determinative one--in some instances, they seem to make claims not fully warranted by available data (e.g., "men are programmed to seek more partners and sexual novelty.... women want emotional attachment and financial security"), and they provide scant citations to the original literature. Nevertheless, from "Looking for Gay Genes" to "Making Brighter Babies," this thought-provoking book's explanations of how our genes "express" themselves is sure to capture the imaginations of readers. Author tour.
