Bonnie J. Rough
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Bonnie J. Rough is the author of the 2011 Minnesota Book Award-winning memoir Carrier: Untangling the Danger in My DNA. Carrier has been covered in regional, national, and international radio, print, and television media, including NPR’s Weekend Edition.
Rough’s writing has appeared in numerous anthologies and periodicals including The New York Times, Huffington Post, The Sun, and The Iowa Review.
Rough has her MFA from the University of Iowa, and she has taught at The Loft Literary Center. She speaks regularly with both literary and medical/professional audiences about Carrier and the bioethcis of modern medical genetics.
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About the book:
Carrier: Untangling the Danger in my DNA
(Counterpoint, May 2010)
As Bonnie J. Rough and her husband consider becoming parents, their biological legacy haunts every decision. Confirmed a carrier of the genetic condition hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, or HED, Bonnie begins a journey to uncover the complicated details of her family’s past.
At first glance, HED seems only to be a superficial condition: an unusual facial bone structure, sparse hair, few teeth, and an inability to sweat. But a closer look reveals the source of a lifetime of infections, breathing problems, and drug dependency for Bonnie’s grandfather Earl, who suffered from the disorder, and died penniless and alone at the age of forty-nine.
In a time when genetic testing offers answers that can lead to excruciating decisions, even refusing a test is a deliberate choice. Caught between science and the heart, Bonnie and her husband find themselves faced with a modern moral crisis—and one that ultimately reveals the eternal tension between past and future.
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