'A perfect blend of cutting-edge science and compelling storytelling. Daniel Davis has a rare knack for making complex science comprehensible and thrilling' BILL BRYSON

Welcome to a revolution in the science of you.

Recent and dramatic breakthroughs in our understanding of the body will profoundly change the experience of being human in the coming century. Already they are opening up boundary-breaking possibilities for intervention at every level, from our brains and genes to our microbiomes and immune systems. These will confer unprecedented powers over health, childhood development, our cognitive and physical abilities, and affect every aspect of how we live our lives and think about ourselves. As the secrets of our bodies are revealed, we all will face previously unthinkable choices with consequences we have yet to understand.

Imagine knowing years in advance the precise likelihood of developing specific cancers, thanks to a bespoke understanding of every cell in your body; following a diet and health regime tailored to your microbiome; continuous monitoring of your body's workings and well-being; taking drugs that improve your cognition and help to acquire new skills; manipulating the genes of your unborn children to eliminate disease or even enhance their capabilities.

Written by an award-winning scientist at the forefront of this work, The Secret Body shows how these radical and disconcerting possibilities have been made real thanks to the ingenious technologies and decades-long collaborations of scientists worldwide. A gripping drama of discovery and a landmark account of this dawning revolution, it presents a vision of the human body of dizzying complexity, wonder and possibility.

'A beautifully rendered picture of the startling new discoveries in human biology which are radically altering our understanding of how we function and what our future holds' BRIAN COX

'An extraordinary journey that reveals the magnificence, intricacy and beauty of the human body, fundamentally changing the way we see ourselves. Masterful' ALICE ROBERTS

About the Author
Daniel M. Davis is Professor of Immunology at the University of Manchester and author of two previous books: The Beautiful Cure, shortlisted for the 2018 Royal Society Science Book Prize and a book of the year in The Times, Telegraph and New Scientist, and The Compatibility Gene, longlisted for the 2014 Royal Society Science Book Prize and shortlisted for the Society of Biology Book Prize. His research, using super-resolution microscopy to study the immune system, was listed in Discover magazine as one of the top 100 breakthroughs of the year. He is also the author of over 140 academic papers, collectively cited over 13,000 times, including articles in Nature, Science and Scientific American.

Reviews
A brilliant deep-dive into the latest discoveries of human health. An inspiration! -- Tim Spector, No.1 bestselling author of Spoon-Fed
A big-picture forecast of how medicine stands on the threshold of a revolution that will radically change all of our lives ... Davis is a polar opposite of the typecast propeller-hatted futurologist. He is beguilingly informal and affably humorous * The Times *
An elegantly written and splendidly concise Cook's Tour of the frontiers of medical biology. It is also an engrossing account of the progress of science * Wall Street Journal *
A perfect blend of cutting-edge science and compelling storytelling. Daniel Davis has a rare knack for making complex science comprehensible and thrilling -- BILL BRYSON
An extraordinary journey that reveals the magnificence, intricacy and beauty of the human body, fundamentally changing the way we see ourselves. Masterful -- ALICE ROBERTS
A beautifully rendered picture of the startling new discoveries in human biology which are radically altering our understanding of how we function and what our future holds -- BRIAN COX
What we now know about the human body would seem magical to people just a hundred years ago... It often reads like a detective story and anyone interested in biology will learn much from this enjoyable book -- VENKI RAMAKRISHNAN, Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry and author of Gene Machine
With this stunning book Daniel M. Davis joins the pantheon of truly great science communicators. It will change the way you think about your self and the people around you. Everyone who has a body will love it -- CHRIS VAN TULLEKEN
Reading The Secret Body is like spending time with an eloquent, well-connected and entertaining enthusiast who has intimate knowledge of the secret worlds that lie within all of us -- Roger Highfield
As David Attenborough opens our goggling eyes to the natural world without, so Daniel Davis brings us face to face with the stunningly clever and, yes, beautiful world within ... One of those books that makes you look at everything human in a new, challenging and thrilling way -- Stephen Fry on The Beautiful Cure
One of the best accounts I have yet come across of the nature of biological science and discovery -- Henry Marsh on The Beautiful Cure
Lucid and entertaining ... Much as Siddhartha Mukherjee did in his book The Gene, Davis expertly weaves together human stories and scientific endeavour * The Times on The Beautiful Cure *
A terrific book by a consummate storyteller and scientific expert * Guardian on The Beautiful Cure *



Book Information
ISBN 9781847925695
Author Daniel M Davis
Format Hardback
Page Count 224
Imprint The Bodley Head Ltd
Publisher Vintage Publishing
Weight(grams) 530g
Dimensions(mm) 242mm * 162mm * 26mm