A daring and intimate exploration of how geneticscomplicates our ideas about blame, punishment, and moral responsibility, fromacclaimed psychologist and author ofThe Genetic LotteryKathrynPaige Harden.

An extraordinary book, the very best of science writing, because it isabout not just scienceit is memoir, history, bleeding-edge genetics, and acompletely original take on original sin.Adam Rutherford, author ofABrief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived

As one of the worlds leading scientists examining how our DNA shapesdifferences in temperament, temptation, and behavior, Kathryn Paige Harden hasseen firsthand how we continue to strugglein public and in our most privaterelationshipswith the ancient tensions between nature and nurture, freedom andconstraint, the desire to punish and the longing to forgive.

InOriginal Sin,she weaves together insights from her ownexperience as a daughter, mother, wife, and scientist with cutting-edgeresearch in genetics and psychology to grapple with some of the most importantquestions in modern life: How do we take responsibility for the people webecome, knowing how we are shaped by both biology and experience? How should werespond when people hurt each otheror themselves? And has science made guiltobsolete?

Navigating the psychological and biological terrain of addiction, antisocialbehavior, and violence, Harden confronts the disorienting ways scienceunsettles our understanding of wrongdoing and choice. In doing so, she asks usnot to absolve but to reckon differently with notions of fairness and blame. Arevelatory inquiry into the uneasy space where human behavior meets inheritedbiology,Original Sinchallenges us to imagine a more humanevision of accountabilityfor ourselves and for one another.

About the Author

Kathryn Paige Hardenis a professor in thedepartment of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, where she leadsthe Developmental Behavior Genetics lab.

Harden received her PhD in clinical psychology from theUniversity of Virginia and completed her clinical internship at McLeanHospital/Harvard Medical School.

She has been honored by the American PsychologicalAssociation for her distinguished scientific contributions to the study ofgenetics and human individual differences.