Here Is a Human Being - At the Dawn of Personal Genomics

Here is a Human Being delivers the first in-depth look at the Personal Genome Project—the effort to construct complete genomic maps of a specific human beings—written by one of the study’s ten human participants. Misha Angrist recounts the project’s fascinating nuances, including the larger-than-life personalities of the research subjects, the entrepreneurial scientists at the helm, the bewildered and overwhelmed physicians and regulators who negotiated for it, the fascinating technology it employed, and the political, social, ethical and familial issues it continues to raise. In the vein of James Shreeve’s The Genome War, Craig J. Ventner’s My Life Decoded, and Francis J. Collins’ The Language of Life, Angrist’s informed exploration of this cutting-edge science is a gripping look at the present and future of genomics.

But what happens when your entire DNA sequence is no longer an abstraction, but a public file anyone can read?

A First-Person Science Memoir: Go inside the groundbreaking Harvard-sponsored Personal Genome Project with one of its first ten human participants as he navigates the promise and peril of knowing his own genetic code. Genetic Privacy vs. Open Consent: Explore the heated debate over public DNA as the author confronts the choice to make his most personal data available to the world. Bioethics in the Real World: Meet the larger-than-life scientists like George Church and the regulators grappling with the thorny ethical questions raised by this cutting-edge science. The Future of Medicine: A gripping, informed exploration of what personal genomics means for your health, your family, and a society on the brink of a medical revolution.