The Experimental Man Project
Monday, April 27, 2009
11:45 - 1:30 p.m.
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In this age of awakening over human and environmental impact from existing and new products and materials, author David Duncan takes “guinea pig” journalism to the very edge of science, building on award-winning articles he wrote for Wired and National Geographic, in which he tested for hundreds of chemical toxins �" from pesticides to plastic additives �" and millions of genetic markers associated with disease, emotions, and other traits. The idea is to humanize the science by using the example of one person as a kind of everyman assessing not only this bold new world of self-discovery, but also the impact emotionally and philosophically of knowing so much about oneself. In his new book, EXPERIMENTAL MAN: What One Man’s Body Reveals About His Future, Your Health, and Our Toxic World (Wiley, March, 2009), he expands on these tests, he examines his genes, environment, brain, and body, exploring what they reveal about his and his family's future health, beliefs, attitudes, and behavior, and his ancestry, as well as the profound impact of this new self-knowledge on what it means to be human.
Featured Speaker(s)
David Ewing Duncan is an award-winning, best-selling author of seven books and numerous essays, articles and short stories; and a television, radio and film producer and correspondent. He is a Contributing Editor and Columnist for Conde Nast Portfolio, a Chief Correspondent for NPR Talk's "Biotech Nation", and a commentator for NPR's "Morning Edition". At UC Berkeley he is the Director of the Center for Life Science Policy and a Visiting Researcher at the Graduate School of Journalism. David's next book, due out in March, 2009, is Experimental Man: What one man’s body reveals about his future, your health, and our toxic world (John Wiley). His most recent book is Masterminds: Genius, DNA and the Quest to Rewrite Life (Harper Perennial). He wrote the international bestseller Calendar: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year (Harper-Collins/Avon), published in 19 languages, and a bestseller in 14 countries.
