The Secrets of our DNA: How Genetics has Changed the World

From the UK's pre-eminent authority on DNA and genetic research, a myth-busting book that provides a window into the world of modern genetics and shows how it informs so many areas of 21st century life.

Go back even a quarter of a century and few people would have heard of DNA, except perhaps in a forensic case. Now genetics plays a part of our everyday culture and our interest in genetics is booming, particularly in the form of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for health, family history and ancestry testing.

So how did we get to the point where our understanding, and misunderstanding of genetics became so commonplace? Professor Turi King, the UK's preeminent scientist in DNA and genetics takes us on a journey through the key cases, legal and otherwise, which explain modern genetics and how it now informs policing, personal histories, migration, politics and health. From eugenics, to mistaken dinosaur DNA, the OJ Simpson trial to Angelina Jolie's BRACA1 gene, we are led through the science to discover how genetics has impacted and shaped our society, and how our growing knowledge of the building blocks of life can inform our understanding of our past and how it will affect our future.

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Turi King (Author)

Professor Turi King is renowned for presenting complex findings on DNA and genetic science in an accessible and compelling way and has won awards for her public engagement in science. She is Director of the Milner Centre for Evolution at the University of Bath and was previously Professor of Genetics and Public Engagement at the University of Leicester. She is an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association, a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Member of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences and a Member of the International Society of Forensic Genetics. She is well known both for her academic work leading the genetics and identification Richard III, advising on the case of Mary Jane Kelly (the last victim of Jack the Ripper), leading the project on sequencing Hitler’s genome as well as her media work co-presenting BBC’s DNA Family Secrets, as well as presenting podcasts, both her own and for the likes of Audible and the BBC.