An enlightening book... may be downright scary for squeamish readers

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"We are all mutants," the author writes in this study of the wonder and variety of human genetics. We are all mutants because there is no such thing as genetic perfection. Sure, the human genome has been sequenced and published, but large chunks of it are unreadable. The words don't make sense. The grammar is murky. To find out what this genetic book is all about we must look at the people who are different from the norm: the mutants. The author explores some common genetic mutations such as conjoined twins and dwarfism, and some rather more esoteric conditions, like cyclopia (a child born with a single eye in the centre of its head) and sirenomelia ("mermaid syndrome," where the lower limbs are fused together). He explores the genetic causes for these conditions and relates our contemporary knowledge to history's abundant tales of "monsters" springing from the human womb. It's an enlightening book, but many of its photos, depicting extreme mutations, are deeply unsettling and may be downright scary for squeamish readers.

David Pitt
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