Identically different - T. D. Spector

Since the discovery of DNA scientists have believed that genes are fixed entities that cannot be changed by environment - we inherit them, pass them on to our children and take them with us when we die. We can make choices that influence our environment, but we cannot change our genes. Or so we have long been prepared to believe.

Professor Tim Spector reveals how the latest genetic research and his own pioneering studies are rewriting everything we thought we knew about genes, identity and evolution. Conceptually, he explains, our genes are not fixed entities but more like plastic, able to change shape and evolve, and these changes can be passed on to our children and grandchildren. In the face of these astonishing new discoveries, the old nature-nurture debate instantly dissolves and can be replaced with a much deeper understanding of our genes and the complex role they play in shaping our identities.

Tim Spector's dazzling guide to the hidden world of our genes will make you think again about everything from sexuality to religion, cancer to autism, politics to pubic hair, clones to bacteria, and what it is that makes us all so unique and quintessentially human.