A Five Part Series from TTBOOK!

Public Radio International

Wisconsin Public Radio

DNA AND DISCOVERY

Program 08-11-02-A

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Shortly after her mother died of ovarian cancer, Jessica Queller had herself tested for the dreaded BRCA gene mutation. She tested positive, which meant she had an 87 percent chance of developing breast cancer, and a nearly 50 percent chance of ovarian cancer. So Queller did the unthinkable: at the age of 34 - unattached and still wanting a family - she had both her breasts removed. In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, the new era of genetic testing.

SEGMENT 1:

Jessica Queller tells Anne Strainchamps why she decided to have a double mastectomy after she tested positive for the breast cancer gene and her mother died of ovarian cancer. Her book is called "Pretty Is What Changes." You can read some listener letters in response to this interview HERE. Also, MD and best-selling novelist Michael Crichton talks with Jim Fleming about the ethical problems he envisions with permitting patents on human DNA. Chrichton's latest novel is "Next."

SEGMENT 2:

Sean Carroll is the author of "The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution." He tells Steve Paulson about new discoveries in evolutionary history, including the existence and purpose of fossil genes. Carroll is an evolutionary biologist at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and at the University of Wisconsin.

SEGMENT 3:

James Watson is famous for cracking the code of DNA, along with Francis Crick, and infamous for picking fights with other scientists and making inflammatory statements. His latest book, "Avoid Boring People" contains advice for young scientists. Watson talked to Steve Paulson and you can judge for yourself whether he's mellowed any. Also, Anne Strainchamps talks with two teenagers who were finalists in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Sarah Waliany and Caroline Lang explain what their experiments were about and why they like science.

CD copies are available at 1-800-747-7444. Ask for program number 08-11-02-A.

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Books & CDs:

Sean B. Carroll, The Making of the Fittest: DNA and the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution (Norton)
Jessica Queller, Pretty is What Changes: Impossible Choices, the Breast Cancer Gene, and How I Defied My Destiny (Spiegel & Grau)
James D. Watson, Avoid Boring People : Lessons from a Life in Science (Random House)

Websites:

• Michael Crichton's Op-Ed in The New York Times
  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/opinion/19crichton.html
• Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology
  http://www.siemens-foundation.org/en/competition.htm

Music:

• After Queller:
  Ahn Trio w/ “Dies Irie”
  On “Lullaby for my favorite instruments”
  Sony BMG Music Entertainment
  
• After Crichton:
  Ahn Trio w/ “Oblivion”
  
• After Carroll:
  Quartet San Francisco w/ “Tanguori”
  On “Whirled Chamber Music”
  ViiolinJazz Recordings
  
• After Watson:
  Ahn Trio w/ “My Funny Valentine”
  
• After Waliany & Lang:
  Howard Roberts w/ “Girl Talk”
  On “Ultra-Lounge”
  Capitol Records

Distribution dates: week of 11/02/2008 - hour 1 click HERE for timings and cues

Listen!

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Questions and comments can be addressed to: flemingj@wpr.org

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