In Experimental Man
It’s a good thing that he is not a worrywart since along the way he’s told that one of his genes indicates imminent death by a heart attack, a few weeks before another DNA test, by another company, assures him that he is very unlikely to ever have heart problems. It turns out that genes are complicated, so that a snip here can point to doom while a snip there points to bliss. There’s plenty of work left to do for bright biotech researchers!
Always holding on to a positive attitude, the author even tries drugs, legal ones of course that pertain to make him more alert, and do just that, but he finds that they interfere with his ability to write since they prevent the mild “downs” that occur normally and that help him rest his brain. Perhaps interfering with nature is not such a good idea after all…
I very much enjoyed this book because it provides an eminently readable description of the various advanced diagnostics available today while reminding us to keep holding on to old-fashioned medicine and common sense. And now I’d love to get my DNA tested to know where my ancestors come from. Sounds really fun!
