Good book by good writer about how DNA does and doesn't affect who we are. Interesting historical background about the eugenics movement. ( )

I’m not sure how I came to mark this as to-read. It was in April or May 2016, and I requested it at the newly opened branch of the city library.

The book seemed to get off to a slow start, but soon became interesting. (It doesn't start to talk about DNA until roughly half way through the book.)

Rather than me writing a lot of words about it, here are some things that struck me as I read.

“It also made me wonder how silence is passed down.” (Page 98)

“Indeed, the Australian penal colony was one of the most successful examples of rehabilitation and the raising up of people in history." (Page 101)

"It used to be that people could expect their illicit past would die with them, but the personal computer and internet revolution has changed all that. Digging up records was once laborious, specific, physical work, but now it often just involves opening one's laptop. The easy availability of all records means it will be harder and harder to invent your own past. For a good and bad, the new historical transparency brings new responsibilities with it too." ( Page 110)

"The [Granite mountain record vault created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] now hold Parish records and Old English manuscript dating from the 1500, including records from London, when civil registration begin in 1837, and copies of jai pu, Chinese family records, which date back from before AD 1. Overall the data the Mormons have gathered is equivalent to 32 times the amount of information contained in the Library of Congress - and the church adds a new Library of Congress' worth of new data every year." (Page 113)

"Have humans ever build anything of this magnitude without an eye on the afterlife?" (Page 113)

"The church's most ambitious project is its online tree. Anyone who logs into FamilySearch may record and research his or her family history there, but what distinguishes this tree from all the other online services is that the church is trying to connect all the branches, using its massive records and the activities of users to build a big tree of all humanity." (Page 116-117)

"By making copies of records and digitizing them for their users, family history companies are in many cases the only ones making an effort to keep this data alive. In some countries it's not an easy task. In Italy, as in many European nations, the communities are so richly endowed with records of the past that they don't spend a lot of time looking after them. One ancestry.com representative showed me a photograph of some ancient Italian ship civil registries piled up on the cistern of a flooded toilet. Artifacts like these are endangered all over the world." (Page 127 - 128)

TRUST AS A CRITICAL FACTOR for economic grown and also relationships. In talking about the slave trade there is the following text:
"Wantchekon told me that the worst of Benin was not the overt corruption but the distrust between people who are closely connected. That suspicion existed everywhere: in economic activity, in political activity, and in family life." (Page 143 - 144)

"[Blaine] Bettinger ordered his first DNA test in 2003, when companies offered to read around 175 markers on the autosome; now the tests exam and just under 1,000,000 markers. As a result, Bettinger has become a leader in the genetic genealogy community, part of a select group of individuals who help people understand their cousin networks and what their DNA may tell them, much of it through his popular blog, thegeneticgenealogist.com." (Page 211)

"CeCe More, another genealogy neurologist and blogger (yourgeneticgenealogist.com) became interested in the subject when she began to put together a family tree for a niece who was getting married." (Page 211)

"23andMe, for example, looked at genetic markers for Parkinson's Disease, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes as well as many other conditions. It also determines genetic susceptibility to certain drug reactions." (Page 306)

"Despite the obvious utility of such information, there is a serious debate in the medical community and genetics communities about whether people should be allowed to access their own health-related genetic data. In 2013 the FDA suspended 23andMe Health Service, and though the company and the regulatory body are now in discussions, it is unclear when the service will be restored." (Page 307)

After a 2-year hiatus, 23andMe is again offering a product in the US, although it is greatly reduced from what it was before. They used to have about 200 reports. Now there are about 60 reports, and the price doubled.

Contents
Introduction
I. Ideas About What Is Passed Down Are Passed Down
1 Do Not Ask What Gets Passed Down (Pride and shame)
2 The History of Family History (It didn't start out so well)
3 The Worst Idea in History (Prelude to chapter 4)
4 The Reich Genealogical Authority
II. What Is Passed Down
5 Silence
6 Information
7 Ideas and Feelings (The slave trade, it's long term effect on African countries; feelings passed down somehow)
8 The Small Grains of History (Finally start to talk about DNA almost half way through the book)
9 DNA Culture
10 Chunks of DNA
11 The Politics of DNA
12 The History of the World
III. How What Is Passed Down Shapes Bodies and Minds
13 The Past Is Written On Your Face: DNA, Traits, and What We Make of Them
14 The Past May Not Make You Feel Better: DNA, History and Health
Epilog
Notes
Index ( )

I loved that the author included information from so many different disciplines, geneology, history, medicine, etc. She had lots of stuff I didn't know. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't much on the Columbian Exchange, but there was certainly a huge amount to process. ( )

Valuable for its insights into genetic makeup. Like some genes get passed in chunks rather than being evenly divided from parents to child. Ashkenazi Jews now have genetic testing ore marriage so that Tays Sachs doesn't get passed on. ( )

I found this to be an excellent read. The author does a very good job explaining how external factors such as historical events and population changes contribute to our DNA. ( )