Our genes are the master-code of instructions that makes and defines humans; it governs our form, function, and fate, and that determines the future of our children. The story of the gene begins in earnest in an obscure Augustinian abbey in Moravia in 1856 as Mendel's idea of a "unit of heredity;" intersects with Darwin's theory of evolution, and collides with the horrors of Nazi eugenics in the 1940s. Mukherjee tells the story of her own family and its recurring pattern of schizophrenia, a haunting reminder that the science of genetics is not confined to the laboratory but is vitally relevant to everyday lives.

Prologue: Families -- "The missing science of heredity" 1865-1935 -- "In the sum of the parts, there are only the parts" 1930-1970 -- "The dreams of geneticists" 1970-2001 -- "The proper study of mankind is man" 1970-2005 -- Through the looking glass 2001-2015 -- Post-genome 2015-... -- Epilogue: Bheda, Abheda.