Experimental Man: What One Man's Body Reveals about His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World - Paperback

by David Ewing Duncan (Author)

Bestselling author David Ewing Duncan takes the ultimate high-tech medical exam, investigating the future impact of what's hidden deep inside all of us
David Ewing Duncan takes ""guinea pig"" journalism to the cutting edge of science, building on award-winning articles he wrote for Wired and National Geographic, in which he was tested for hundreds of chemicals and genes associated with disease, emotions, and other traits. Expanding on these tests, he examines his genes, environment, brain, and body, exploring what they reveal about his and his family's future health, traits, and ancestry, as well as the profound impact of this new self-knowledge on what it means to be human.
David Ewing Duncan (San Francisco, CA) is the Chief Correspondent of public radio's Biotech Nation and a frequent commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. He is a contributing editor to Portfolio, Discover, and Wired and a columnist for Portfolio. His books include the international bestseller Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year (978-0-380-79324-2). He is a former special producer and correspondent for ABC's Nightline, and appears regularly on CNN and programs such as Today and Good Morning America.

Back Jacket

David Ewing Duncan takes us on a deep, exhilarating dive into the hidden worlds of being human; both an erudite guide and an amazingly willing lab rat, Duncan has written a book that looks inward and outward at the same time: inward to the mysteries of the self, and outward to the horizon of our species' extraordinary, and sometimes alarming, future."" -- Steven Johnson author of The Invention of Air

""Experimental is one of those rare books that, as soon as you pick it up, you say to yourself, why didn't I think of that? David Ewing Duncan has come up with a simple but elegant conceit that yields a rich trove of information and insight about how we live now."" -- Michael Pollan author of The Omnivore's Dilemma

""Twenty years from now, David Duncan's pioneering grand experiment will become commonplace. Duncan is measuring how both genes and environmental chemicals affect our health by testing his own body. His self-experiment will inform, guide, and inspire the millions who will follow him in the great quest for truly personalized medicine. It's not often you get to read a book mailed back from the future, but the one you hold is just that: news from the year 2029."" -- Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick at Wired and author of New Rules for the New Economy

""David Ewing Duncan may be the most thoroughly tested healthy human on the planet. He hits the mark with this bold journey into the emerging era of high-tech genomics and medicine for healthy people. After having his body poked and probed in every way, he pulls no punches in separating hype from reality, describing what this new knowledge has (and has not) meant for him, and conveying how these developments will reshape the way we see ourselves. Experimental Man is brilliant, provocative, timely . . . and a wonderful read."" -- Gregory Stock, PhD, author of Redesigning Humans

""Experimental Man dares to ask 'Who am I?' in a way it's never been asked before. In that sense, it will change the way we construct the story of our self, blending biological diagnostics in with the now-familiar prisms of personal history and psychology. Through this new lens, we are all a Frankenstein."" -- Po Bronson, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller What Should I Do with My Life?

Author Biography

DAVID EWING DUNCAN is the Chief Correspondent on public radio's Biotech Nation and a commentator on NPR's Morning Edition. He's a contributing editor and columnist for Conde Nast Portfolio, and a former contributing editor for Discover and Wired. He was a freelance producer and correspondent for ABC's Nightline and a correspondent with NOVA. He has written for National Geographic, Fortune, the Atlantic, Harper's, and many others. He's the author of several books, including Calendar, an international bestseller published in 19 languages. He is the Director of the Center for Life Science Policy at UC Berkeley and is a sought-after speaker. He has won numerous awards, including an AAAS Science Journalism Award.