She Has Her Mother's Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity

What will you pass along to future generations?

She Has Her Mother's Laugh illuminates a historic transformation in our understanding of precisely what we received from our parents and ancestors and how can now steer the future of heredity in powerful ways almost unimaginable just a generation ago

With a surprise on almost every page, from th first use of the Latin word hereditas by the Romans to Darwin's theory and Mendel's Law, to the deeply disturbing rise of eugenics in the twentieth century, to revelations regarding the microbiome, human culture, and epigenetics, all the way to the rapid rise of CRISPR gene-editing technology, Carl Zimmer's masterwork is both a defining moment in biology and a model of daring, dazzling narrative. It is an opportunity to discover where you came from - and what you may leave to the future.