num_pages: 431
description: Full of fascinating and bizarre cases of genetic mutation and irregularity, Mutants is an amazing exploration of the human form in all its beautiful and unique guises. ribs -- and some of us not? Why do most of us stop growing in our teens -- while others just keep going? Why do some us have heads of red hair -- and others no hair at all? The human genome, we are told, makes us what we are. But how? Armand Marie Leroi takes us to the extremes of human mutation -- from the grotesque to the beautiful, and often both at the same time -- to explain how we become what we are. Through the tales of long-lived Croatian dwarves, ostrich-footed Wadoma tribesmen, sex-changing French convent girls, and many more wonders of human development, Leroi has written a brilliant narrative account of our genetic grammar and people whose bodies have revealed it.
language: English
title: Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body
titlecomplete: Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body
genres: Genetics, Medical, History, Biology, Science, Anthropology, Health, Medicine, Nonfiction, Evolution
ratings_count: 3753
awards: awardedAt: 1072944000000
name: Guardian First Book Award
publisher: Harper Perennial