A code hidden in the human genome will reveal the ultimate secret of human existence. And could hold humanity's only hope of survival.

Genome concludes The Extinction Files, the two-book series that began with Pandemic.

In 2003, the first human genome was sequenced. It was a breakthrough of historic proportions, but only one scientist knows the full truth of what lies buried in our DNA. That secret will change everything we thought we knew about our past. And our future.

Dr. Paul Kraus has spent his career searching for what he calls humanity's lost tribes--human ancestors who have gone extinct. When Kraus compares the DNA samples of the lost tribes with our own, he discovers a pattern of changes. A code. He believes he knows what the code is, but the technology doesn't exist to fully decode it. To protect the secret, Kraus hides his work and disappears.

For years, the secret remains buried. When Kraus dies mysteriously, his work is lost forever. Now the technology exists to finally unravel the code buried in the human genome. The race to find Kraus's research has begun, and one group will do anything to find it.

Dr. Peyton Shaw and her mother have obtained part of Kraus's research--and a cryptic message that could lead to the remaining pieces. They soon learn that finding those pieces may be more dangerous than anyone imagined. But there's no choice. His work is the key to stopping a global conspiracy--and an event that will change humanity forever. The ultimate secret, buried in the human genome, will change our very understanding of what it means to be human. For Peyton, finding it may come at an incredible price. She must weigh the lives of strangers against those she loves: Desmond Hughes and her mother. With time running out, Peyton makes a fateful choice--one that can never be undone.