Ruth Hubbard (1) (1924–)

This book was a disappointment to me. Not to say that Hubbard's basic positions were wrong, as we do need to question our society's investment in genetic models and how it undermines standards of care and treatment. When this book were written, mania was in full swing, with genes being misunderstood as some sort of magical and manipulatable data that can unlock the secrets of the human body. Unfortunately, Hubbard's support for the opposite is supported by decades old research rather than by contemporary scholarship. It also doesn't help that the book itself hasn't been revised in fifteen years. Since then the conversation about DNA and genetics has progressed with strides, and new understandings as well as misunderstandings about exactly what genes can tell us have arisen.

The other drawback here is the writing. While I understand she co-wrote this with her son so that he might prevent the text from becoming overly scientific or academic, they went too far in the wrong direction and the text is instead simplistic, confusing, and vague.… (más)