"Contrary to popular belief, your genetic destiny is not preordained," begins this reference guide. Following up on his Choices, Not Chances,
Milunsky, a professor of human genetics, pediatrics and pathology at Boston University, argues that numerous external mitigating factors can derail or change one's seeming fate—and that some are under our control. Using Milunsky's tips for compiling a family health history, readers can decide if they are candidates for genetic counseling. Counseling, Milunsky explains, details medical options, usually including genetic tests. Milunsky breaks the daunting process into component steps for specific ethnicities, genetic conditions and fertility issues, and deftly outlines the basic science, statistics and tests for inherited dispositions toward various disorders. (Cancer, mental illness, obesity, Alzheimer's, Down's syndrome, heart defects and depression are among those for which a gene has been found.) Milunsky's practical, bottom-line approach and his plethora of facts and statistics (e.g., 26 million people in the U.S. are affected by a genetic disorder) are largely persuasive and sometimes discouraging. He describes, for instance, a gene that "predisposes an individual to develop alarmingly high temperatures" while under anesthesia, which can lead to death if not detected immediately. Milunsky opines on inchoate legal and ethical issues (including the World Health Organization's proposed guidelines to informed consent for voluntary genetic testing), encouraging prospective parents to face difficult decisions armed with all the facts. Despite his impassioned rhetoric, Milunsky remains a measured, informed (and prolific—this is his 13th book) voice for the genetic-interventionist camp. (June 15)
