The Language of Life: DNA and the Revolution in Personalised Medicine [Paperback]

'"The Language of Life" is timely, current and full of moving stories' --Nature

`What makes this book stand out is the wealth of personal stories of tragedy and triumph over disease... timely indeed' --BBC Focus

`He writes as a scientist with a passion for medical progress' --Financial Times

'In his new book, he is here to tell us that the era of personalised genetic testing is nigh. No one could be a more authoritative messenger than Collins ...'
--Guardian

The former head of the Human Genome Project reveals how you can join the personalised medicine revolution

We are in the midst of a medical revolution: in just a few years, we will be able to have our complete DNA sequenced at an affordable cost. Analysing the content of our genomes will allow a powerful estimate of our future risks of illness - from cystic fibrosis and Huntington's disease, to cancer and diabetes - which will help us devise our own personalised blueprint of preventive medicine. This will have enormous implications on everything from our day-to-day choices like diet and exercise, to childbearing and health insurance - and it may even challenge what we thought we knew about our ethnic histories. Combining cutting-edge scientific research with practical advice, Francis Collins examines this remarkable phenomenon, which will transform healthcare worldwide. We now know that the language spoken by our DNA is the language of life itself, and in this important book Collins shows how reading that language will help save lives.

A scientific and medical revolution is upon us. Virtually all diseases have a significant hereditary component: diabetes, heart disease, the common cancers, mental illness, asthma, arthritis, Alzheimer's disease - and the secrets to these and many more are now being unlocked for the first time, thanks to cutting-edge research from laboratories around the world. Today, with a test costing just a few hundred pounds, you can learn about the health risks encrypted in your DNA. Francis Collins has been at the forefront of this revolution. The former head of the international Human Genome Project, he is now the Director of the National Institutes of Health in the United States. The Language of Life combines world-class scientific research with practical advice to help those who face common problems, often without hope, to discover a new world of understanding, treatment and prevention. And each one of us will learn about our own DNA: how it works, what it reveals, and the limits and benefits of this groundbreaking knowledge which could change the way we live our lives. 'A jewel of a book ... Francis Collins has done a service to society by writing The Language of Life. He is educating us by great storytelling' Nature

Francis Collins is the director of the National Institute of Health in the United States, and former head of the Human Genome Project. His most recent book, The Language of God, was a New York Times bestseller.