as our new release of the week: The Geneticist who Played Hoops with My DNA…And Other Masterminds from the Frontiers of Biotech. By David Ewing Duncan (HarperCollins, May 2005). Duncan, a science writer from San Francisco, blends science and personality in his new book, delving into stem cell research, cloning, bioengineering, extending life span, and genetics by telling the stories of the characters at the fulcrum of the science. Calling to mind age-old stories and myths — Prometheus, Faustus, Eve, and Frankenstein — he asks the question: Can we trust these scientists?

Excerpt: “I’m playing basketball with a Viking geneticist on a half-court at the ends of the earth, and he is toying with me. Also known as Iceland’s most famous geneticist, he’s dribbling a basketball in a Reykjavik gym on a typically damp, cold day in August near the Arctic Circle…” Read more. And, don’t miss our current New Release of the Week.