This year’s non-fiction book celebrates the engineers’ progress – New Technology

     Karin Bojs offers exciting reading about how modern DNA research charts the modern européns history. And gives tips on how DNA testing can be used for private genealogy Photo: Sanna Percivall
     

August Prize for the year’s Swedish non-fiction book to be shared science journalist Karin bent. This does DNA technology a crucial role, and with the engineers.

worked for two years science journalist Karin Bojs full time to write the book “My European family – the last 54,000 years.” Before that, she had, as a science editor at DN, for 20 years following the emergence and development of DNA technology.

In the book, We follow the detective work as researchers in Europe and the United States engaged in mapping the history of Europe, from the first wave of immigration to today. She also lets us follow in his private hunting for relatives, in the near present and past. All using DNA technology that has now taken the step into both the history and genealogy.

The jury’s motivation: “A unusual and universal family chronicle in which DNA provides new knowledge about the Europeans maximum of mixed origin. It is a surprising story as painstakingly told by a stubborn journalist with the help of the recent dizzying scientific advances. Rarely have 54,000 years have passed so easily and so learned. “

The book was published in August and quickly became a bestseller among nätbokhandlarna. In an interview with New Technology pointed her engineers important role in the technical development that has made it possible for researchers to find new knowledge with the help of DNA technology.

This applies not least the historical breakthrough came in June, when two research teams, one in Boston and one in Gothenburg / Copenhagen, was itself revealed that the modern european not only is a genetic mix of Ice Age hunters and farmers from the Middle East. In our genes are genes from a shepherd people in about 4 800 years ago came from the east. This may explain why in our part of the world was so great economic and social upheavals that moment. The results were published in the scientific journal Nature, and was a worldwide sensation.

– You could say that history was rewritten with the help of engineers, noted Karin Bojs in the article.

August Prize is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed and prestigious literary prizes. Swedish Publishers’ Association established the prize in 1989 to reward and focus on the best newly published books in Swedish every year.

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