The Genome Odyssey

Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them

Euan Angus Ashley

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Hardback

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English

Celadon Books
14 September 2021

Medicine; Genetics (non-medical)

Since the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, the price of genome sequencing has dropped at a staggering rate. It's as if the price of a Ferrari went from $350,000 to a mere $0.40. Through breakthroughs by Dr. Ashley's team at Stanford, along with other impressive groups around the world, analyzing the human genome has decreased from an almost impossible, multi-billion dollar cost to one test for under $1,000.

For the first time, due to this affordable capability, we have within our grasp the ability to predict our genetic future, to diagnose and prevent disease before it begins, and to decode what it really means to be human.

In The Genome Odyssey, Dr. Ashley details the medicine behind genome sequencing with clarity and accessibility. He shares compelling stories of the brave patients who were the first to undergo this analysis for their own benefit, as well as that of humankind. And then he traces the path from genome data to scientific knowledge to real medical action.

He describes how he led the team that was the first to analyze and interpret a complete human genome, how they broke genome speed records to diagnose and treat a newborn baby girl whose heart stopped five times on the first day of her young life, how they found a boy with tumors growing inside his heart and traced the cause to a missing piece of his genome.

These stories are the waymarkers for a journey through the science behind genome discoveries and genetic diseases. Dr. Ashley envisions a future where genome sequencing is available for all, where medicine can be tailored to treat specific diseases at the DNA level, and where our medical system as we know it has been completely revolutionized.

By: Euan Angus Ashley
Imprint: Celadon Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 246mm, Width: 164mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 598g
ISBN: 9781250234995
ISBN 10: 1250234999
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 14 September 2021
Recommended Age: From 8 years
Audience: General/trade , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Euan Ashley is a Professor of Medicine and Genetics at Stanford University. He was born in Scotland and graduated from the University of Glasgow. He attended Oxford University, completing a PhD there before moving to Stanford University where he trained in Cardiology. He joined the Stanford faculty, where he led the team that carried out the first medical interpretation of a human genome. Ashley has received awards from the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. He was recognized by the Obama White House and received the Medal of Honor from the American Heart Association.

Reviews for The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them

This wonderful page-turner captures the excitement, peril, wonder and anticipation of the so-called genomics era -- the era that has begun us to allow us to sequence the entirety of DNA carried within our bodies, and to understand the functions of parts of this genome. Dr Ashley, one of the pioneers of gene sequencing technologies, writes with authority, elegance and simplicity to enable an in-depth understanding of the most exciting scientific developments of our times. Every curious reader must read this book. --Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning and #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Emperor of Maladies and The Gene The Genome Odyssey is destined to be a landmark narrative in the canon of modern science. Like Ulysses, Ashley has had a front row seat on this journey by virtue of his own scientific work which has been instrumental in bringing us to this place of great precision in diagnosis. Ashley's prose is brilliant and makes for compelling reading. --Abraham Verghese, New York Times bestselling author of Cutting for Stone, Professor and Senior Associate Chair of Internal Medicine, Stanford University Cracking the genome's code to solve medical mysteries requires a special kind of detective work, and The Genome Odyssey walks us through the most nerve-wracking, heart-in-your-throat cases to show us how it's done. With a storyteller's flair and a doctor's devotion, Euan Ashley explains a host of astonishing breakthroughs, each accomplished with human lives on the line. Taken together, his and his colleagues' work will leave you breathless. --Robert Kolker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road Dr. Euan Ashley's book opens a window into the future of medicine and shows us firsthand how genetic information is transforming lives. In The Genome Odyssey, he shares compelling stories of real patients facing rare diseases and the life-changing breakthroughs made possible by decoding their full genetic makeup. --Anne Wojcicki, Co-founder and CEO of 23andMe