Biotechnology Unzipped: Promises & Realities [Paperback]

Eric S. Grace (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0309057779 | ISBN-13: 978-0309057776 | Publication Date: January 1997 | Edition: 2

Finally, a reader-friendly explanation of biotechnology, its history, and its implications for us all. From human health and medical technology to agribusiness and environmental cleanup, Grace examines the promises, realities, and ethics of this dynamic technology.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Grace makes his complex subject easy to digest by dividing each chapter into palatable sections with clever subheads and often humorous sidebars, including a recipe for making DNA that calls for ingredients like "a handful of bacteria (about a thousand million)." He includes a dispassionate discussion of ethical repercussions and public concerns.... Since "the focus of biotechnology companies is profit, not philanthropy," Biotechnology Unzipped serves to caution us that without the requisite judiciousness, even the most wondrous and potentially life-saving feats of science "cannot, in the end, save us from who we are". -- The New York Times Book Review, Jacqueline Boone

Book Description

"Biotechnology" may raise more hope and fear...revelation and confusion...excitement and alarm than any other term in today's headlines. In Biotechnology Unzipped, scientist and skilled science popularizer Eric Grace helps readers understand what biotechnology is and what implications it holds for all of us.
Grace offers a reader-friendly explanation of how we came to where we are--from the coining of the word "cell" in 1665 through Darwin's breakthrough insight on evolution and the unraveling of the DNA helix to the 1997 announcement of the cloning of Dolly the sheep.
This book uses everyday metaphors to help readers understand the genetic code and how it works to produce every form of life. Grace deals frankly with the reality that biotechnology is first and foremost a commercial activity. Focusing on the ethical implications, he looks at the scope of public opinion, the role of the media, the vulnerability of the poor to exploitation, and the problem of patenting life itself.
Grace explores the promises and realities of biotechnology in major arenas:

• The human body. The medical industry is today's biggest customer for biotechnology, and Grace presents its application as a continuum from the earliest experiments with skin grafting in the 1800s. He reports on the progress of gene therapy and other medical marvels--yet Grace argues that high-tech medicine does not guarantee longer, healthier lives any more than high-tech weapons guarantee world peace.
• The farm. Is biotechnology the answer to world hunger or is it self-serving rhetoric from agribusiness? Grace explores the reality between these two points of view through examples, including the controversy over bovine growth hormone, increased use of herbicides and pesticides, and genetic modification of plants.
• The environment. Biotechnology Unzipped looks at the promise of microbes cleaning up pollutants such as the Exxon Valdez spill. Alternate Selection, Newbridge Science Book Club

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: National Academy Press; 2 edition (January 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0309057779
• ISBN-13: 978-0309057776
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,678,036 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars compelling, March 22, 2000

By 

William Sheridan (Ottawa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biotechnology Unzipped: Promises & Realities (Paperback)

BIOTECHNOLOGY UNZIPPED is the most compelling evaluation of biotechnology I have read since Harsanyi & Hutton's GENETIC PROPHECY of almost 20 years ago. What makes this book so insightful is the "tradeoffs" perspective that Grace brings to the subject. In every instance where a particular technique is either in development or on the market, the possibilities for selective breeding, or genetic engineering, or composite materials, all hold both a promise and a peril.

Grace, who has a Ph.D. in Zoology and considerable experience as a science writer, attempts to provide enough critical information in each case so that the reader will get a sense of what considerations are involved in any particular "biotechnology solution". What we learn about biotechnology from him is that every biotechnology decision has the following characteristics:

* Costs and revenues (developments cost $millions, so the goal is profits) * Winners and losers (the rich could get lucky, the poor and vulnerable may not) * Benefits and detriments (solutions generate unintended & unwanted consequences) * Enthusiasts and detractors (arguments arise on all sides of biotechnology issues)

The reason that the public is so ambivalent about biotechnology is that its supporters have been so inept at making their case. Biotechnology advocates seem to think that their's is just a problem of an "uninformed public" whom they can re- assure because they have "the facts". They obviously don't appreciate the most important principle of new-age public relations, namely, "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care".

What Grace shows is that the public does have cause to be concerned. There are no simple problems, no silver bullets, and no final solutions, even if biotechnology boosters pretend there are. If biotechnology advocates become willing to address these concerns, AND learn to manage the expectations of their stakeholders, then they can begin to earn the respect that will otherwise continue to elude them. Grace's book helps clarify all of this. Well done!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great intro for the layperson, January 24, 2001

By 

Healthy Economist (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Biotechnology Unzipped: Promises & Realities (Paperback)

After seeing so much in the news about biotechnology, I was in search of an introductory book that would explain the basics of genetic manipulation. This book starts from the very basics--how are genes related to DNA and chromosomes, what are enzymes and proteins, then more sophisticated concepts such as gene splicing and monoclonal antibodies.

While this book won't make anyone an expert scientist, the text and diagrams are clear and concise. I read articles about biotech in the newspapers and business magazines, and this book is a useful primer for those in search of further detail.

After the overall introduction, the author describes biotech applications in several fields, which become a bit of a laundary list after awhile. I would have found fewer, in-depth case studies more interesting. Nevertheless, if you're looking for an informative introduction to biotech, I highly recommend this book.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A competent and readable overview, July 4, 2003

By 

PAUL FARRINGTON (ENGLAND, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biotechnology Unzipped: Promises & Realities (Paperback)

I bought this book because I wanted a refresher on Molecular Biology. The first half of the text delivers this, explaining key concepts of DNA/RNA, the role of genes and the function of gene expression in the creation of proteins. Upon these understandings the author builds an explanation of genetic engineering. He explains techniques of recombinant DNA, the relevance of stem cells and modern gene therapy. The second half of the book was of less relevance to me, but if you need a journalist's eye view of the whole of biotech, sweeping across everything from cell biology to bioethics, Eric Grace does a reasonable job of providing it. Pro: Competently written and clearly illustrated. Con: Breadth but limited depth.