In 1962, James Watson shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Francis Crick and Maurice Wilkins for the discovery of the structure of DNA, the fundamental molecular building block of life, which explains how hereditary information is replicated. Now, this renowned scientist returns to give this authoritative yet personal account of the course of modern genetic research and the technological and ethical challenges unleashed by it. In a rich story that appeals to the general reader, Watson explains how cellular processes act in the drama of molecular biology and explores the genetic choices that we now face. What are genetically modified foods, and do they really pose a threat to consumers or the environment? What options are available to a woman planning to have a child?

"Reading Watson is a delight, an opportunity to breathe the rarefied air of his generation's greatest scientists."—Publishers Weekly