Letting the Genome out of the Bottle - Lone Frank, 27 August 2012

Genomics Forum blogging team at the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2012
Blog by Hazel McHaffie

Genomics - essentially the study of all the genes of a cell or tissue at the DNA level - is a relatively new field of enquiry. And it's been said that the map of the human genome is 'the most wondrous map ever produced by humankind'. It has certainly raised huge questions for society, and the knowledge it provides has widespread consequences for individuals, for families and for society.

Lone Frank is an internationally acclaimed Danish science writer with a PhD in neurobiology, who has grappled with these questions, and written a fascinating book, My Beautiful Genome: Exposing our Genetic Future One Quirk at a Time. To see her is to instantly think that she's been blessed with more than her fair share of favourable genes - good looks and brains, performance skills as well as rigorous analytical powers.

The elements were against us on this occasion with rain thundering down on the roof of the Book Festival’s theatre, and a rather end-of-term feeling on this last day of the Book Festival. She though, was probably less surprised by the fact the event was not a sell out: when she proposed writing a book on this subject, friends warned her that nobody would be interested in genomics. On the contrary, people are, and the questions reflected considerable knowledge of her field. She was challenged more than once to explain her terms and the accuracy of her statements. My own limited understanding means I can only report what I've gleaned from her words and her book.