DNA Is Not Destiny: The Remarkable, Completely Misunderstood Relationship between You and Your Genes | Steven J. Heine

“[An] important book.… Heine’s vibrant writing makes it come alive with personal significance for every reader.”—Carol Dweck, author of Mindset

Scientists expect one billion people to have their genomes sequenced by 2025. Yet cultural psychologist Steven J. Heine argues that, in trying to know who we are and where we come from, we’re likely to completely misinterpret what’s “in our DNA.” Heine’s fresh, surprising conclusions about the promise, and limits, of genetic engineering and DNA testing upend conventional thinking and reveal a simple, profound truth: your genes create life—but they do not control it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An accessible contribution to what the author calls 'genetic literacy’ and a satisfyingly hard-edged work of popular science."
― Kirkus Reviews

"Steven Heine is one of the leading cultural psychologists in the world.… a trustworthy guide through the moral minefield of genetic differences."
― Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind

"This brilliant, invaluable book sets straight crucial matters of heredity and environment and their interaction―and does so in lively and lucid prose."
― Richard Nisbett, author of Mindware -.

About the Author

Steven J. Heine is Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on meaning, genetic essentialism, and cultural influences on motivations. He has published over seventy articles in such periodicals as Science, Nature, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, and Psychological Review. He received the Distinguished Scientist Early Career Award for Social Psychology from the American Psychological Association in 2003 and the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology in 2011. He lives with his family in Vancouver.