THE $1,000 GENOME The Scientific Breakthrough That Will Change Our Lives

Producing the first human genome—the DNA sequence—took 13 years and cost millions of dollars. With advances in technology, start-up companies hope to do it for individuals in a doctor’s office and charge less than $1,000. Since certain sequences correlate with known disease states, experts hope to provide patients with predictive and prophylactic actions to prolong their lives. Narrator Johnny Heller dominates the audiobook’s dense technical language. As always, Heller’s sandy voice moves quickly, even when the science gets heavy. He employs plausible accents for characters of Serbian, Australian, and British descent. Heller cannot, however, give meaning to the author’s excessive use of acronyms—SNP, EGFR, and PGD—all defined at some point but easily forgotten. J.A.H. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2010]