At the beginning of the 21st century, genes are used to explain almost every aspect of human life, from social inequalities to health, sexuality and criminality. Although few people have studied genetics, our culture is full of casual references to them. The Darwinian, if asked to comment on our evident 'love of shopping, ' would declare it to be in our genes. As former hunters and gatherers, they would say, there is no qualitative difference between gathering fruits and shopping for food, clothes, housewares or knickknacks. One can read not only about the shopping gene, but also about the...