Promising Genomics

Iceland and deCode Genetics in a World of Speculation

Bibliographic Data

ID23398457
AuthorsMichael A Fortun
EditorsMike Fortun (0000-0002-3177-2121)
Year2008
Pages343
Publication date2008-12-31
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenuePromising Genomics (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/9780520942615
OpenAlexW4389412676
Open LibraryOL29601762M
ISBN9780520942615
LanguageEN
Citations received161

Part detective story, part exposé, and part travelogue, Promising Genomics investigates one of the signature biotech stories of our time and, in so doing, opens a window onto the high-speed, high-tech, and high-finance world of genome science. In a luminous account, Mike Fortun investigates how deCODE Genetics, in Iceland, became one of the wealthiest companies of its kind, as well as one of the most scandalous, with its plan to use the genes and medical records of the entire Icelandic population for scientific research. Delving into the poetry of W. H. Auden, the novels of Halldór Laxness, and the perils of Keiko the killer whale, Fortun maps the contemporary genomics landscape at a time when we must begin to ask questions about what "life" is made of in the age of DNA, databases, and derivatives trading.

Biology · Computational biology · Gene · Genome · Genomics · Genetics · Genetics, Bioinformatics, and Biomedical Research · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease · Databases · Europe · Human genetics, moral and ethical aspects · Medical Ethics · Medical records · Research