Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology [Hardcover]

Roger Gosden (Author), R. G. Gosden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1999 | ISBN-10: 0716732998 | ISBN-13: 978-0716732990 | Edition: 1

No other subject in science today provokes more controversy than human reproduction and genetics. Our increasing ability to manipulate fertility and shape our genetic destiny raises many questions both practical and ethical and creates an equal amount of hope and fear for the future.

In Designing Babies, reproductive expert Roger Gosden provides a compelling overview of this biological revolution. In clear, non-technical language, he explains the science that is emerging and addresses the many social and ethical dilemmas involved. He also offers a startling look into a foreseeable future where fertility will be a matter of choice, genes will be screened and genetic defects repaired prenatally, cloning technology will become more powerful, and parents will be able to choose the sex of their child. Designing Babies explores these and other issues intelligently, with an open-minded approach towards the dangers and benefits such scientific advances might bring.

For better or worse, the human race has co-opted science and technology in its powerful drive to reproduce. Separating the real facts from tabloid fallacies, Designing Babies is a genuinely productive voice in the debate about one of the most contentious and important issues of our day.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

With so much information available about reproductive technology, we may question the need for two more books on this topic; however, this rapidly changing field and the tremendous number of ethical issues surrounding it make continuous updating necessary. Both of these books provide good, though brief, overviews of recent advancements and issues related to reproductive technology, including in vitro fertilization, surrogacy, artificial wombs, male pregnancy, and cloning. Andrews, a professor at Chicago-Kent Coll. of the Law and director of the Institute for Science, Law, and Technology, Illinois Institute of Technology, is a recognized legal expert on these difficult issues and has served as an adviser to the U.S. National Bioethics Advisory Commission. Her book provides numerous cases that illustrate the social, ethical, and political implications of this fast-moving, minimally regulated industry. It is difficult to find a truly balanced account of these controversial issues in any one book, and these books are no different. Andrews concentrates on the legal and social aspects, while Gosden (reproductive biology, Univ. of Leeds) provides a medical researcher's viewpoint. While both authors write in an informal lay style, the glossary and list of suggested readings in the Gosden book are a helpful addition for readers who are new to the field. High school and college students will find the Andrews book particularly useful for "hot topics" papers. Both books are recommended for public or undergraduate collections.ATina Neville, Univ. of South Florida at St. Petersburg Lib.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gosden's distinguishes itself among a large group of similar books by including many literary anecdotes and allusions, making it more a literary and philosophical work than a technical manual. One intriguing demonstration of his medical history knowledge is the description of an eighteenth-century museum exhibit of fetal quintuplets, a relatively unknown example of multiple pregnancy. Gosden worked for a time with Robert Edwards, the original test-tube-baby doctor, so he is "old in the field." He covers the expected types of artificial reproductive methods, setting them in cultural, scientific, and chronological contexts. He is easy to read and shows a refreshingly progressive attitude in urging that research in all areas continue. William Beatty

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: W.H. Freeman & Company; 1 edition (May 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0716732998
• ISBN-13: 978-0716732990
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,842,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding general survey of the world of 'reproductive technology', June 1, 2006

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology (Paperback)

I diagree with the 'Amazon ' reviewer who says the writer's work is morally faulty. I think that Roger Gosden has written a very clear general survey of the up--to- date situation of 'the brave new world of reproductive technology' to 1999 the year the book was published.
He is not pretentious and not at all sensational.
He soberly shows the difficulties with new reproductive technologies and shows how there are no miraculous solutions to fertility problems.
He does take a strong position favoring IVF(in vitro fertilization) and points to many healthy children born through the process, and many families which now have children which would not otherwise. I agree that he does not go deeply into the questions of 'who' and ' who not' should be allowed to make use of this technology, though he clearly states that the welfare of the expected child must be paramount. I myself think that IVF is a fundamental factor in transforming the human situation, the family , and all we think of and know of in terms of our identity in intimate life. I do not think a book has yet been written which traces the true philosophical human implications of this technology.
But Gosden is a professional researcher and his survey of the field is not meant to probe in depth the total societal implication.
The title of the book is perhaps a bit sensational, for the subject of 'designer babies' occupies only a small part of the book. Most of the time he is talking about reproductive technology, and if anything eliminating genetic defects rather than 'programming' for positive ones.
This is a well- written fair survey, with a useable index. A truly fine work.

3.0 out of 5 stars Where is the moral dimension?, July 22, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology (Hardcover)

I learned a great deal from this book on the state of reproductive science. However, I was chilled by the author's total lack of concern with the moral and ethical dimensions of tampering with our genes. He seems concerned only with the question of whether a procedure is safe and will benefit the child and its parents. Perhaps as a scientist he does not consider this within his purview, but it is the moral/religious debate which is causing the most angst in our society on issues surrounding the questions of "designer babies" and the termination of pregnancies.

One of your customer reviewers expressed disappointment that the author had spent too much time on the ethics and not enough on procedures. I wondered whether we had read the same book! Yes, he could have written a more specific "how to" book, but any ethical discussion is pretty one-sided; there is more to the other side than fear of the unknown, which seems to be the only negative concern the author seems to recognize.

5.0 out of 5 stars Written in clear, non-technical language, March 2, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology (Paperback)

In Designing Babies: The Brave New World Of Reproductive Technology, reproductive expert Roger Gosden provides the non-specialist general reader with a compelling and comprehensive overview of what is happening in the biological science of assisted reproduction. Written in clear, non-technical language, Designing Babies explains this rapidly emerging science and the several social and ethical dilemmas involved. The reader is given an accessible understanding of the near future medical goals of gene screening, prenatal genetic repair, cloning, and prenatal sex selection. Designing Babies is a very highly, "reader friendly" addition to school and community library biological science collections.