Skip navigation

Leading geneticist to write book on staying well

'Body Language' promises ‘stunning new revelations about why we get sick’

BOOKS GENETICIST
Dr. Francis Collins helped translate the complexities of DNA into everyday vernacular. Collins led the Human Genome Project that, along with a competing private company, mapped the genetic code — or "the book of human life," as he famously called it.
Evan Vucci / AP
Slideshow
  Capturing the 'American Character'
Eleven photographers come together to celebrate the everyday people who make this country unique.

more photos

The Week in...  
  
Image: A California sea lion is pictured at the zoo of Wuppertal
Reuters
  Animal Tracks
From a petite panda to a sleepy sea lion, find images of animals great and small.
Image: British forces in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
NYT via Redux
  The Week in Pictures
Vibrant fields of sunflowers, a high-rescue drama and Michael Jackson memories are among this week’s attention-grabbing images.
Image: Premiere of HBO's "Entourage" Season 6 - Arrivals
Getty Images
  The Week in celebrity sightings
Adrian Grenier and his “Entourage” pals kick off new season, Paris Hilton is back in court, Robert Plant is rock royalty and more.
TODAY
  Man loses more than 400 pounds
July 10: TODAY’s Matt Lauer talks to David Smith about losing more than 400 pounds and starring in the TLC show “The 650-pound Virgin.”

updated 2:38 p.m. ET Sept. 2, 2008

Dr. Francis Collins, arguably the nation's leading geneticist and author of the best-selling “The Language of God,” is working on a book that promises "stunning new revelations about why we get sick; what it means to be healthy; how we can prevent disease" and medical treatment.

HarperCollins will release “Body Language: How Personalized Medicine Will Change Your Life” in Fall 2009, the publisher announced Tuesday. Dr. Collins will write about “medical dilemmas his own family has experienced, among stories of patients from across the country, in every age group,” according to HarperCollins.

“Modern genetic research has revealed that we all are born with glitches in our DNA, glitches which have implications both for potential future disease and for day-to-day choices while we are still “healthy.” How much should you learn about your own glitches? How much should doctors be able to learn? The answers are shifting daily. This is the book that will explain it for all of us.”

Story continues below ↓
advertisement | your ad here

Collins, who helped lead the breakthrough unraveling of the human genetic code — and found common ground between the belief in God and science — resigned last summer as head of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health. Writing a book was one reason he cited for stepping down.

The geneticist helped translate the complexities of DNA into everyday vernacular. Collins led the Human Genome Project that, along with a competing private company, mapped the genetic code — or "the book of human life," as he famously called it.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Sponsored links

Resource guide