Kevin Davies

James D. Watson

Andrew Berry

The definitive insider's history of the genetic revolution--significantly updated to reflect the discoveries of the last decade. James D. Watson, the Nobel laureate whose pioneering work helped unlock the mystery of DNA's structure, charts the greatest scientific journey of our time, from the discovery of the double helix to today's controversies to what the future may hold. Updated to include new findings in gene editing, epigenetics, agricultural chemistry, as well as two entirely new chapters on personal genomics and cancer research. This is the most comprehensive and authoritative exploration of DNA's impact--practical, social, and ethical--on our society and our world.

The Story of the Genetic Revolution

One of the world's leading experts on genetics unravels one of the most important breakthroughs in modern science and medicine.

Humanity in the Age of Crispr and Gene Editing

Editing Mankind

Siôn Jones

Dyma gyfrol o gerddi dwl gan Kevin Davies. Mae Kevin yn wyneb ac yn llais adnabyddus ar y BBC ers blynyddoedd a dyma ei ymdrech gyntaf ar fod yn fardd! Cyfres o gerddi dwl, gwallgo i blant o bob oed! -- Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru

Kerddi Dwl Kev

Poetry. Deftly combining toughboy wit with a kind of hyper-awareness of language usually only found in Language poets, Kevin Davies' COMP. is a brilliant and hilarious read. Quoth the man himself--I learned the year after kindergarten that sentences are linguistic artifacts with regulations that fill themselves out, and that for the purposes of our circus-cannon ambitions the most important part of the war they enact is the full-stopping dots that divide the booty amongst camp-following berzerkers of the sub-syllabic frontier. Word.

Comp

In 2000, President Bill Clinton signaled the completion of the Human Genome Project at a cost in excess of $2 billion. A decade later, the price for any of us to order our own personal genome sequence—a comprehensive map of the 3 billion letters in our DNA—is rapidly and inevitably dropping to just $1,000. Dozens of men and women—scientists, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and patients—have already been sequenced, pioneers in a bold new era of personalized genomic medicine. The $1,000 genome has long been considered the tipping point that would open the floodgates to this revolution. Do you have gene variants associated with Alzheimer’s or diabetes, heart disease or cancer? Which drugs should you consider taking for various diseases, and at what dosage? In the years to come, doctors will likely be able to tackle all of these questions—and many more—by using a computer in their offices to call up your unique genome sequence, which will become as much a part of your medical record as your blood pressure. Indeed, many experts are advocating that all newborns have a complete genome analysis done so that preventive measures and preemptive medicine can begin early in life. How has this astonishing achievement been accomplished? And what will it mean for our lives? To research the story of this unfolding revolution, critically acclaimed science writer Kevin Davies has spent the past few years traveling to the leading centers and interviewing the entrepreneurs and pioneers in the race to achieve the $1,000 genome. He vividly brings to life the extraordinary drama of this grand scientific achievement, revealing the masterful ingenuity that has transformed the process of decoding DNA and delivering the information it possesses to the public at large. Davies also profiles the future of genomic medicine and thoughtfully explores the many pressing issues raised by the tidal wave of personal genetic information. Will your privacy be protected? Will you be pressured, by insurance companies or by your employer, to get your genome sequenced? What psychological toll might there be to discovering you are at risk for certain diseases like Alzheimer’s? And will the government or the medical establishment come between you and your genome? One thing that is not in question is that we are moving swiftly into the personalized medicine era, and The $1,000 Genome is an essential guide to this brave new future.

The Revolution in DNA Sequencing and the New Era of Personalized Medicine

The $1,000 Genome

The Onehunga Boys Home, an orphanage on Mt Smart Road Auckland during the 1940's and 50's New Zealand, was home to thirty boys of various ages and backgrounds. The Orphanage became the Home of Kevin at four and a half, his brother at eight and his mother, recently deserted by his father, appointed as Assistant-Matron. One Tree Hill', is a collection of short stories set during Kevin's years, five to thirteen. The boys and events are as remembered but sometimes when recall is hazy, Kevin resorts to creative invention. A central focus is One Tree Hill, because much time was spent playing on it's slopes. Loyalty, security, commaraderie, empathy, friendship, and identity are themes throughout the stories. Character development, mainly concerning five friends, serves up sufficient substance enabling readers to develop an appreciation of all the Home boys. From the first story to the last, Kevin and friends are involved in escapades, part of their daily routine. Mostly, Kevin the child speaks, employing conversation, humour and life commentary. Older Kevin enters occasionally with different viewpoints. Constant banter among the five is the glue binding the Home kids together. One Tree Hill is a memoir based on Kevin's recollection of events in that place and time. Each story is a woven basket of fact and fiction but which is which at any time in the story doesn't affect the reader being drawn into the experiences of the boys.

One Tree Hill

Poetry. Radically comic, formally inventive, and ridiculously smart, every 8 to 10 years Kevin Davies releases a new book reminding us just how unexpected poetry can be. THE GOLDEN AGE OF PARAPHERNALIA will without doubt garner the applause his previous book COMP. (Edge Books, 2000) received. That garnering included The San Francisco Book Award in 2000 selected by Kevin Killian, write-ups in the New York Times, Village Voice, and Boston Review, translation into French by Xandaire Selene, and extended critical articles in American Literature, Jacket, and The Poker-- i.e. Davies' work has met with more than a little enthusiasm. One example: Joshua Clover in the Village Voice: "Davies often writes long, tumbling sequences that gather force like a dream landslide, with each part standing out as an idiosyncratic scene charged by an alluring voice, or stance, not quite like anything else in contemporary poetry." Cover photograph by Benjamin Friedlander.

The Golden Age of Paraphernalia

In 2000, President Bill Clinton signaled the completion of the Human Genome Project at a cost in excess of $2 billion. A decade later, the price for any of us to order our own personal genome sequence--a comprehensive map of the 3 billion letters in our DNA--is rapidly and inevitably dropping to just $1,000. Dozens of men and women--scientists, entrepreneurs, celebrities, and patients--have already been sequenced, pioneers in a bold new era of personalized genomic medicine. The $1,000 genome has long been considered the tipping point that would open the floodgates to this revolution. Do you have gene variants associated with Alzheimer's or diabetes, heart disease or cancer? Which drugs should you consider taking for various diseases, and at what dosage? In the years to come, doctors will likely be able to tackle all of these questions--and many more--by using a computer in their offices to call up your unique genome sequence, which will become as much a part of your medical record as your blood pressure.

Michael White

Documents the four-year international effort to discover BRCA1, the gene responsible for some types of breast cancer, and profiles the people and politics behind the science

The Race to Find the Breast Cancer Gene

Breakthrough

Andrew James Berry

Updated to include new findings in gene editing, epigenetics, agricultural chemistry, as well as two new chapters on personal genomics and cancer research

One of the world's leading experts on genetics unravels one of the most important breakthroughs in modern science and medicine. If our genes are, to a great extent, our destiny, then what would happen if mankind could engineer and alter the very essence of our DNA coding? Millions might be spared the devastating effects of hereditary disease or the challenges of disability, whether it was the pain of sickle-cell anemia to the ravages of Huntington’s disease. But this power to “play God” also raises major ethical questions and poses threats for potential misuse. For decades, these questions have lived exclusively in the realm of science fiction, but as Kevin Davies powerfully reveals in his new book, this is all about to change. Engrossing and page-turning, Editing Humanity takes readers inside the fascinating world of a new gene editing technology called CRISPR, a high-powered genetic toolkit that enables scientists to not only engineer but to edit the DNA of any organism down to the individual building blocks of the genetic code. Davies introduces readers to arguably the most profound scientific breakthrough of our time. He tracks the scientists on the front lines of its research to the patients whose powerful stories bring the narrative movingly to human scale. Though the birth of the “CRISPR babies” in China made international news, there is much more to the story of CRISPR than headlines seemingly ripped from science fiction. In Editing Humanity, Davies sheds light on the implications that this new technology can have on our everyday lives and in the lives of generations to come.

Kevin Davies

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