Dan Agin is Associate Professor Emeritus of Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology at the University of Chicago, and editor in chief of the online journal ScienceWeek. He is the author of Junk Science: How Politicians, Corporations, and Other Hucksters Betray Us.

Please visit www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-agin



MORE THAN GENES:
What Science Can Tell Us about Toxic Chemicals, Development, and the Risks to Our Children
Oxford University Press, October 2009
Genre: Science & Health
Agent: Faith Hamlin

“a ‘silent pandemic’ is causing untold damage to babies… [F]rightening and deserves widespread attention”—Publishers Weekly

Dan Agin presents new evidence that the fetal environment can be just as critical as genetics or post-natal environment in determining intelligence and behavior. Pre-natal exposure to environmental toxins, as well as maternal use of alcohol and drugs, may result in ADHD, autism, schizophrenia, and other mental disorders. Agin controversially argues that differences in IQ among racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups may be far more attributable to the effects of a toxic pre-natal environment than to genetic inheritance.