Books.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
A groundbreaking work, Redesigning Humans tackles the controversial subject of engineering the human germline—the process of permanently altering the genetic code of an individual so that the changes are passed on to the offspring. Gregory Stock, an expert on the implications of recent advances in reproductive biology, has glimpsed the inevitable future of biomedical engineering. Within decades, Stock asserts, technological advances will bring meaningful changes to our offspring; this scientific revolution promises to fundamentally alter the human species. With recent findings presented in a new afterword, Stock's provocative assessment cuts through the debate to envision an age of radical biotechnological advancement and unprecedented human choice.
Synopsis
Writing for the lay reader, Stock, the director of the Program on Medicine, Technology, and Society at the School of Public Health at UCLA, discusses the science, potential impact, and many controversies surrounding the development of germline engineering, which involves selectively altering human genetic code in a way that will be transmitted to one's offspring. Annotation ©2003 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Publishers Weekly
Rather than worry about the ethics of human cloning, Stock (Metaman; The Book of Questions), director of the UCLA School of Medicine's Program of Medicine, Technology and Society, believes we should focus our attention on the idea that we'll soon be able to genetically manipulate embryos to develop desired traits a more immediate and enticing possibility for most parents than cloning. He gives a lucid overview of the new biotechnology that will allow scientists to delay aging and to insert genes that enhance physical and cognitive performance, combat disease or improve looks into embryos. Stock thoughtfully weighs the ethical dilemmas such advances present, arguing that the real threat is not frivolous abuse of technology but the fact that we don't know the long-term effects of these genetic changes. In any case, Stock insists, there's no turning back, and government bans "will determine not whether the technologies will be available, but where, who profits from them, who shapes their development, and which parents have early access to them." Stock demonstrates that much of the current criticism of human genetic engineering sounds remarkably similar to what was being said about in vitro fertilization when it first appeared. He believes that we will come to accept laboratory conception of all offspring and the addition of artificial chromosomes stocked with designer genes as readily as we have come to accept in vitro fertilization. Along the way we are sure to have many ethical issues to confront, issues that Stock does an impressive job of outlining. (Apr. 25) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Rather than worry about the ethics of human cloning, Stock (Metaman; The Book of Questions), director of the UCLA School of Medicine's Program of Medicine, Technology and Society, believes we should focus our attention on the idea that we'll soon be able to genetically manipulate embryos to develop desired traits a more immediate and enticing possibility for most parents than cloning. He gives a lucid overview of the new biotechnology that will allow scientists to delay aging and to insert genes that enhance physical and cognitive performance, combat disease or improve looks into embryos. Stock thoughtfully weighs the ethical dilemmas such advances present, arguing that the real threat is not frivolous abuse of technology but the fact that we don't know the long-term effects of these genetic changes. In any case, Stock insists, there's no turning back, and government bans "will determine not whether the technologies will be available, but where, who profits from them, who shapes their development, and which parents have early access to them." Stock demonstrates that much of the current criticism of human genetic engineering sounds remarkably similar to what was being said about in vitro fertilization when it first appeared. He believes that we will come to accept laboratory conception of all offspring and the addition of artificial chromosomes stocked with designer genes as readily as we have come to accept in vitro fertilization. Along the way we are sure to have many ethical issues to confront, issues that Stock does an impressive job of outlining. (Apr. 25) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.KLIATT
Amniocentesis, in vitro fertilization and embryo selection make it possible to avoid bearing children with certain genetic diseases; or of a particular gender. Those biomedical technologies were initially surrounded by controversy, and many people continue to find them deeply troubling. But they look tame compared to the direct tinkering with individual genetic make-up that is already on its way. Gregory Stock believes that the use of "germinal choice technology," i.e., choosing embryos on the basis of genotype, cloning, or changing genes in germinal cells (eggs or sperm), should not necessarily be seen as a horrifying prospect. Why not try to manage evolution to make humans healthier and happier? In any case, he argues, the human drive for improving ourselves and our children is so strong that these new forms of genetic engineering will inevitably be used; just as people have embraced plastic surgery to look better, anabolic steroids to increase strength, and cochlear implants to remedy deafness. The task for individuals and public policy is not to thwart these technologies but to deal with them wisely. Stock, who directs the program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA's School of Public Health, employs a restrained rhetoric, thought-provoking real-world examples, and a minimum of technical detail to make his points. Although the writing (at the level of The New York Times Magazine) may be too difficult for some students, teachers can use Stock's two appendices, which spell out the challenges of regulation (e.g., how much power should self-serving parents have over their future children's genes?), to start lively discussions of bioethical questions students may well confrontpersonally very soon. KLIATT Codes: SA;Recommended for senior high school students, advanced students, and adults. 2003, Houghton Mifflin, 277p. notes. bibliog. index.,— Karen Reeds