Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed
Shanks, a grassroots political activist, offers a primer not just on the modification of the human genome, but on all fronts of the biotechnology debate, from cloning to stem cells, gene therapy and the genetic engineering of food. Designed in handbook style, with bulleted lists of key ideas, bold-faced terms and cross-references sprinkling the page, the book includes only a teaspoonful of science, just enough to give a lay reader some idea of the vocabulary of biotech. Shanks is fairly accurate but overly dismissive of some promising avenues of research, such as gene therapy. And while he makes gestures toward representing both pro- and anti-biotech views, Shanks can't resist quoting others who call the proponents of cloning irrational or elitist. In the last two chapters, the gloves come off: Shanks wholeheartedly endorses the banning of cloning and many other cutting-edge technologies, patting himself on the back for working with some of the leaders of the opposition to biotechnology. With its emphasis on social justice issues, this fairly one-sided overview would more accurately be subtitled "A Guide to the Perplexed Progressive."(June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.