The debate over human Genetic Engineering (GE) is about to go mainstream. Not as a one-day wonder about cloning or a theological disagreement about embryos, but as a major political issue, driven in part by a grassroots movement of opposition. Human Genetic Engineering is a highly readable and entertaining guide. It explains in accessible language for a popular audience the essential questions that will arise in the future debates: What is human GE? Will it work? What perspectives should we remember? Who is doing what, and why?

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 2 reviews)

Slouching toward GATTACA?

Pete Shanks has written a terrific introduction to human genetic engineering and the fraught issues it raises. The basic question he takes on: How do we get what's good out of human biotechnology, but make sure we don't wake up one morning and find ourselves in GATTACA?

"Guide to Human Genetic Engineering" covers the cloning of people and pets, "transhumanism," eugenics, sex selection, designer babies, gene doping, stem cells, and more. It welcomes beneficial uses of biotechnology, but cuts through the techno-boosterism that characterizes far too much of the current public discussion of these issues.

The book's appearance is engaging, with a table or pull quote or something else visually interesting on almost every page. The writing is top-notch -- entertaining, even funny and intermittently irreverent, but without ever losing sight of the seriousness and importance of the subject matter. The author clearly explains the technical basics, and goes beneath the surface of the political and social controversies, but not so deep as to lose "perplexed" or simply curious readers. He makes it clear what he thinks, but it's obvious that he respects what others think too.

I recommend this book very highly.

May 17, 2005

Choosing where we should go

This is a great primer and source-book on just about everything connected with human genetic engineering -- cloning, stem cells, the fertility industry, gene therapy (and how it hasn't worked), and even the history of eugenics. There's really nothing like it. Every chapter has got suggestions for further reading, there's an appendix listing all the best websites and books ... and on top of it all, Shanks can really write. Clear, concise, accessible; this is the best introduction to the subject yet.
May 16, 2005

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