The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine
A geneticist tells the stories of men, women, and children whose genes have shaped their lives in unexpected ways.

It was while listening to a colleague tell the parents of a newborn girl that their daughter was going to die that a lifelong interest in genetic medicine was sparked in Dr. Edwin Kirk. Warmth and gentleness tempered a direct, sure manner—this was the medicine he wanted to practice, where the most advanced science and the most deeply humane care meet and merge. Twenty-five years later, Kirk works both with patients and in the lab, meanwhile spearheading a campaign that will change the way we think about having babies.

Written with insight and gentle humor, The Boy Who Wasn’t Short tells tales about his work, such as the moment the realization that a young boy wasn’t short ended up saving the life of his mother—and how Angelina Jolie has saved the lives of many more. Sit in the room with Kirk and his patients as they navigate the world of heartbreaking uncertainties, tantalizing possibilities, and thorny questions of morality. In genetics, it is the particularities of an individual’s history that matter, and here, in clear and considerate writing, those individual stories are given voice.

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The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine
A geneticist tells the stories of men, women, and children whose genes have shaped their lives in unexpected ways.

It was while listening to a colleague tell the parents of a newborn girl that their daughter was going to die that a lifelong interest in genetic medicine was sparked in Dr. Edwin Kirk. Warmth and gentleness tempered a direct, sure manner—this was the medicine he wanted to practice, where the most advanced science and the most deeply humane care meet and merge. Twenty-five years later, Kirk works both with patients and in the lab, meanwhile spearheading a campaign that will change the way we think about having babies.

Written with insight and gentle humor, The Boy Who Wasn’t Short tells tales about his work, such as the moment the realization that a young boy wasn’t short ended up saving the life of his mother—and how Angelina Jolie has saved the lives of many more. Sit in the room with Kirk and his patients as they navigate the world of heartbreaking uncertainties, tantalizing possibilities, and thorny questions of morality. In genetics, it is the particularities of an individual’s history that matter, and here, in clear and considerate writing, those individual stories are given voice.

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The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine

The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine

by Edwin Kirk
The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine

The Boy Who Wasn't Short: Human Stories from the Revolution in Genetic Medicine

by Edwin Kirk

Paperback

$18.00 
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Overview

A geneticist tells the stories of men, women, and children whose genes have shaped their lives in unexpected ways.

It was while listening to a colleague tell the parents of a newborn girl that their daughter was going to die that a lifelong interest in genetic medicine was sparked in Dr. Edwin Kirk. Warmth and gentleness tempered a direct, sure manner—this was the medicine he wanted to practice, where the most advanced science and the most deeply humane care meet and merge. Twenty-five years later, Kirk works both with patients and in the lab, meanwhile spearheading a campaign that will change the way we think about having babies.

Written with insight and gentle humor, The Boy Who Wasn’t Short tells tales about his work, such as the moment the realization that a young boy wasn’t short ended up saving the life of his mother—and how Angelina Jolie has saved the lives of many more. Sit in the room with Kirk and his patients as they navigate the world of heartbreaking uncertainties, tantalizing possibilities, and thorny questions of morality. In genetics, it is the particularities of an individual’s history that matter, and here, in clear and considerate writing, those individual stories are given voice.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781950354726
Publisher: Scribe Publications Pty Ltd
Publication date: 09/07/2021
Pages: 288
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Edwin Kirk is both a clinical geneticist and a genetic pathologist, a rare combination. As a clinician, he sees patients at Sydney Children’s Hospital, where he has worked for more than 20 years. He is also a researcher, working in the fields of cardiac genetics, metabolic diseases, and intellectual disability, studies reproductive carrier screening, and is a co-author of more than 100 publications in scientific journals.

Table of Contents

Preface: An end, and a beginning 1

1 Easier than you think 7

2 The DNA Dinner 19

3 The boy who wasn't short 45

4 Uncertainty 59

5 Needles in stacks of needles 79

6 Power! 99

7 Dysmorphology Club 121

8 How to make a baby 151

9 Complexity 165

10 A spoonful of mannose-6-phosphate 193

11 Please, screen me 213

12 Where to from here? 239

Glossary 243

Acknowledgements 253

Notes 257

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