Customer Reviews

Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed

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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.

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.

I was quite annoyed after reading a few pages into the book. If one were to write about the ethical issues and problems that genetic engineering would induce, that person should be an expert at the matter, or better yet, have hands-on experience on it. I'm a neuroscience researcher at the Second ranking school in the nation. I understand how the mechanism behind this procedure and what we do as scientists; moreover, the guidelines we follow to prove ourselves as ethical as we can be. When it comes to genetic engineering, what is good for the individual is more important than what is good for the society. With that being said, genetic enhancement for personal advantage or desire is a questionable practice because it is the people's choice. This is America, isn't it? Are we all here because we believe in choices?