The Hidden Genes of Professor K is a thrilling medical mystery that incorporates new advances in genetic and epigenetic research to decipher the secrets of the past extracted from human DNA. Readers who were spellbound by Gabriel Farago’s previous novels The Empress Holds the Key and The Disappearance of Anna Popov will be equally enthralled and captivated as they journey through the secrets of the past, and share the dreams of a visionary scientist with the power to change the future of medicine.
Professor Susan Clark FAA, Head of the Genomics and Epigenetic Division, The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.
Dr Peter Molloy, Senior Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Food and Nutrition, Sydney Australia.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR
This book was inspired by, and is dedicated to, the many talented scientists who work at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in Sydney. In awe of nature, but not seduced by its beauty, or cowed by its terror, they are always on the lookout for inspired ideas to improve the journey of man.
To learn more about Garvan, what it stands for and what it does, please visit
Writing a medical thriller about the fascinating world of genomics was inspired by the amazing research being carried out in the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, in Sydney.
My book is dedicated to the many talented scientists who work here to improve how we diagnose, treat and ultimately, prevent some of the major diseases of our time.
Writing The Hidden Genes of Professor K was an ambitious project. For a layman like me, exploring subjects touching on cutting-edge medical research and complex science is never easy, and would not have been possible without the guiding hand and generous help of leading experts.
There has probably never been a more exciting time to be a research scientist than right now. Progress is breathtaking, the possibilities endless, breakthroughs come almost daily, and the speed of progress is head-spinning. Advances in technology are making the unthinkable possible, and what would once have taken two scientists several years of painstaking work, can now be done by a machine overnight!
I firmly believe that we are about to open a treasure-trove of knowledge buried in our genome right here, inside us all, that will transform the future of medicine and the journey of man.
The inspirational Foreword to the book ( set out below) by Professor Mattick, executive director of the Garvan, begins with the words: We all stare into the darkness. I thought a lot about this sentence and would like to add this to it: As we stare into the darkness, something extraordinary is now happening. A shaft of light is slowly banishing the darkness and lifting the curtain of ignorance.
What is that light? It is the dawn of a new era of medicine as we explore that treasure-trove of evolution hidden in our genes. The secrets are all there for us to find, and with the help of dedicated scientists and institutes like this, we will do just that.
I hope you enjoy reading the book as much as I have enjoyed researching and writing it.
Happy reading!
Gabriel Farago
FOREWORD
We all stare into the darkness. There are things, many things, that we do not know about the world, or about ourselves. What makes us different from other animals, and sets us apart from each other, is the genetic material we inherit from our ancestors. Amazingly, however, the number and repertoire of conventional protein coding genes is similar across the animal kingdom. The rest of our genome was once dismissed as junk – a graveyard of evolutionary debris for which scientists could not attribute any purpose. However, it now appears that this DNA is in fact alive, transmitting. It is the cryptic code that orchestrates human development, empowers our thoughts, and perhaps even holds memories of experiences from generations past.
Professor K combines imagination, history, and knowledge of the leading edge of medical science to weave an epic tale of greed and intrigue. It takes the reader into the recesses of the human psyche, the hidden corners of history, and the dark matter of the human genome. The secrets are all there.
Professor John Mattick AO FAA, Director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney (http://www.garvan.org.au).
