News stories report almost daily that scientists have linked a certain                  gene to a disease like Alzheimer's or macular degeneration, or to a condition like                  depression or autism, or to a trait like aggressiveness or anxiety. Accompanying                  this remarkable progress in unraveling the genetic basis of disease and behavior are                  new technologies that are rapidly reducing the cost of reading someone's personal                  DNA (all six billion letters of it). Within the next ten years, hospitals may                  present parents with their newborn's complete DNA code along with her footprints and                  APGAR score. In Genetic Twists of Fate, distinguished geneticists Stanley Fields and                  Mark Johnston help us make sense of the genetic revolution that is upon us. Fields                  and Johnston tell real life stories that hinge on the inheritance of one tiny change                  rather than another in an individual's DNA: a mother wrongly accused of poisoning                  her young son when the true killer was a genetic disorder; the mountain-climbing                  brothers with a one-in-two chance of succumbing to Huntington's disease; the screen                  siren who could no longer remember her lines because of Alzheimer's disease; and the                  president who was treated with rat poison to prevent another heart attack. In an                  engaging and accessible style, Fields and Johnston explain what our personal DNA                  code is, how a few differences in its long list of our DNA letters makes each of us                  unique, and how that code influences our appearance, our behavior, and our risk for                  such common diseases as diabetes or cancer.

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