2009 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize Finalist
Masha Gessen
Blood Matters: From Inherited Illness to Designer Babies, How the World and I Found Ourselves in the Future of the Gene (Harcourt)
Judges’ Citation
After learning of a potentially lethal mutation in her genes, Masha Gessen set off in search of medical advice and went on to explore the larger world of genetic research. Blood Matters, her report from the field, is based on an inquisitive reading of the scientific literature and interviews with scientists, ethicists, doctors, patients, and families on four continents. Elegant and fearless, morally complex and at times grimly funny, Blood Matters is an adventurous blend of reporting, memoir, and opinion. It is also a remarkably lucid science lesson, and while ultimately optimistic, Gessen makes plain that it still much easier to predict an individual’s genetic destiny than to forestall it.
Bio
Masha Gessen has written for Slate, the New Republic, Vanity Fair, the New York Times, and other publications. The author of three previous books, she lives in Brookline, Massachusetts.
Judges for the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
David Michaelis, Patricia O’Toole, and Walter Shapiro.