The PKU Paradox

"Paul and Brosco are to be congratulated on producing an extremely worthwhile, interesting and very readable book. I highly recommend it to geneticists, bioethicists, to those directly or indirectly involved in newborn screening, and to all others who wish to understand the basis for the current enthusiasm about the role of genetics and genetic screening in health and the prevention of disease."

"The PKU Paradox will be essential reading for anyone interested in the sociocultural, ethical and historical aspects of PKU and newborn screening more generally."

"This book is a fascinating biography of this syndrome... enriched by illustrations from public health campaigns, advertising material for PKU-friendly supplements, and interviews with people who have lived with PKU and who have given first-hand accounts of their lived experience... The PKU Paradox is a useful and provoking addition to the Biographies of Disease series."

"The ability to illustrate a wide range of historical themes through a single, compelling case will make The PKU Paradox particularly useful for undergraduate teaching, as will the short, concisely written chapters. It is not an easy task to clearly portray the history of a subject as complex and elusive as disease, and Paul and Brosco have done an admirable job in this regard. The PKU Paradox will be essential reading for anyone interested in the sociocultural, ethical and historical aspects of PKU and newborn screening more generally."

"Paul and Brosco are to be commended for reminding us all how central the PKU story has been to the development of genetics and medicine, the connection of genotype to phenotype to society, and to the way this society views people with intellectual disabilities. This is a book that should be read by all geneticists and physicians and people with an interest and concern about individuals for with intellectual impairments."

"The PKU Paradox is a clearly and engagingly written book that provides an excellent introduction to the history of a disease and its broader implications in twentieth-century biomedicine."

"This is a deeply researched and most readable history of PKU from its discovery in 1930... up to the success story of the present day."

"Significant book for readers interested in understanding the many factors and intricacies involved in the history of diseases, in particular genetic diseases... Provides a compelling argument against the simplistic and persistent view that genetic diseases are fixed in the lab. Instead, it proposes a complex contextual history, not only a more persuasive one, but also one that provides a model for comprehensive study of other diseases, genetic or not."

"Paul and Brosco enable the reader to shift their gaze from PKU the paradigm to PKU the disease, in all its historical and biological complexity. For this reason, this book will be of interest to historians and practitioners of medicine alike. Moreover, it also serves as an excellent example of the constructive possibilities inherent in a collaboration between historians and physicians, and indeed, of the value of such an approach."

"A highly compelling story about a successful medical intervention—literally life changing—that has also had unintended consequences. This study is extremely relevant to contemporary genomic medicine."