| In The Culture of the Land series.
In 2001, the Human Genome Project announced that it had successfully mapped
the content of human DNA. Scientists, politicians, and pundits speculated about
what would follow, conjuring everything from the nightmare scenario of
state-controlled eugenics to the vision of engineering full disease resistance
into newborn babies. Such predictions continue to influence public opinion and
policy. Beyond Biotechnology: The Barren Promise of Genetic Engineering
distinguishes between the hype and reality of genetic engineering and guides
readers toward a proper understanding of the relationship between science and
nature.
Authors Craig Holdrege and Steve Talbott evaluate and critique the current
state of genetic science and examine potential applications in areas such as
agriculture and medicine. The authors contend that the popular reductionist view
of genetics lacks an understanding of the ways that genes work together in
organisms, and that this view leads to unrealistic expectations and, ultimately,
disappointment.
Written for lay readers, Beyond Biotechnology provides a solid
introduction to the complicated issues of genetic engineering and its potential
applications. The book also defines and characterizes the kind of science and
understanding we need to interact responsibly with nature.
Craig Holdrege is director of the Nature Institute. He is
the author of Genetics and the Manipulation of Life: The Forgotten
Factor of Context and The Giraffe's Long Neck: From
Evolutionary Fable to Whole Organism.
Steve Talbott is a senior researcher at the Nature
Institute. He is the editor of the online newsletter NetFuture and the
author of Devices of the Soul: Battling for Our Selves in an Age of
Machines.
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