Harvard Science Book Talk: Roxanne Khamsi, in conversation with Anna Kuchment, "Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health"

Our DNA is the indispensable set of instructions that guides our growth and vitality. The common misconception is that this molecular blueprint stays the same throughout our lives. In reality, the genetic makeup of our cells is continuously mutating, from the moment we are conceived until our last breath. The hidden changes that amass in our genomes can have a huge influence on our health.

In this groundbreaking book, science writer Roxanne Khamsi describes our bodies as active landscapes of mutation. She reveals how the forces of Darwinian evolution operate within our own tissues. The effects can be devastating, such as when mutant blood cells outcompete their normal counterparts and increase the risk of heart attacks. But mutations can also make our bodies more resilient: Liver cells with genetic changes seem to cope better with excess calories. And immune cells with remixed DNA can make more effective antibodies against the microbes that threaten us.

By letting go of the antiquated idea that every cell in a body has the same exact DNA, we can usher in a whole new era of medicine, including better vaccines and treatments that outsmart cancer. Beyond Inheritance will open your eyes to the immense genetic diversity that exists within you and its incredible potential to shape your well-being.

Roxanne Khamsi is an award-winning science journalist and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. She has reported extensively on the intersection of genetics and medicine for a wide range of publications, including Nature, Wired and The New York Times. Her work has been recognized for excellence by the American Medical Writers Association and Association of Health Care Journalists. She lives in Montreal.

Anna Kuchment is The Boston Globe's health and medical editor. Prior to joining the Globe, she spent 14 years as a writer and editor at Newsweek magazine, a senior editor at Scientific American and a science enterprise reporter at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered COVID, climate change and health disparities, along with many other subjects. She is also the author of The Forgotten Cure, a book about a group of biotech startups racing to turn an old-world medicine called phage therapy into a treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections.

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