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Lone Frank delves into her genetic code to separate science from spin in what makes for an enthralling read

WITH alcoholism, manic depression and suicide attempts in the family, hardly needed genetic testing to tell her she might have problems in store. Still, that鈥檚 the route the Danish science journalist decided to pursue in this masochistic journey of self-discovery.

Despite covering hard-core molecular biology this book is anything but dull, leavened as it is with the author鈥檚 acerbic self-reflections. After a personality test, a psychologist ventures that Frank鈥檚 threshold for becoming irritated with people is lower than average. 鈥淕ive me a break,鈥� she thinks. 鈥淒oesn鈥檛 the man realise how stupid other people can be?鈥�

So what, in 2011, can we learn from our genes? According to the firms selling them, genetic tests can reveal a person鈥檚 health, personality and family origins 鈥� both our recent history and our ancestors鈥� migration route out of Africa. We can even supposedly glean clues about our ideal marriage partners.

Frank treats these claims sceptically but fairly, managing to shake some of my own cynicism about home testing for genes linked with a high risk of disease. Yes, the science is still in its infancy, but wouldn鈥檛 banning the tests because people can鈥檛 handle the uncertainties smack of old-fashioned paternalism? I鈥檓 left seeing both sides.

鈥淢y business is to find the metaphor that explains the space age, and along the way write stories鈥�

Beyond genetic testing, My Beautiful Genome covers some of the most interesting controversies in biology today, including designer babies, brain imaging and even whether or not we have free will. It鈥檚 an enthralling read.