Reshaping Life: Key Issues in Genetic Engineering / Edition 3

by G. J. V. Nossal, Ross L. Coppel

Overview

Reshaping Life is an eminently authoritative and lucid description of modern molecular biology and genetics, and the ethical implications of genetic engineering. Now in its third edition, it is fully revised and updated, taking advantage of a decade of progress in genetics and biotechnology. It offers a concise working knowledge of DNA science and of those aspects of cell biology needed to understand such issues as animal cloning, genetically modified food, and gene therapy. It examines the debates on the sociological and ethical issues surrounding modern technology, laying out the issues for the reader, while urging a rational approach.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521524230
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/26/2002
Edition description:	REV
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.51(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.59(d)

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. The genie is out of the bottle; 2. The organization of life; 3. The mechanics of gene transplantation; 4. Genomes: the encyclopaedias of life; 5. Factories for precious proteins; 6. Genes as diagnostic probes; 7. Gene therapy, cellular engineering and human cloning; 8. Vaccines of the future; 9. Genetically manipulated organisms; 10. The DNA industry; 11. Scientists playing God; 12. Genetic engineering and public policy; 13. Distant horizons; Appendix. Subcellular organelles; Glossary; Suggestions for further reading; Index.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Ian Glass, MD, FRCP, FRACP, FACMG (University of Washington School of Medicine)
Description: This is a concise 250-page overview of genetic technology and many of its current applications.
Purpose: The purpose of this third edition is to provide a brief essential biological background to the genetic revolution, describing the Human Genome project and the current and future applications of such advances while attempting to place in context the ethics and role of genetic engineering in human society, overall. In this work by two authors, the writing is concise, accessible, and the book appears to achieve most of its aims.
Audience: A wide readership of health professionals and perhaps even the interested general public is anticipated, specifically those with little prior in-depth exposure to the background and applications of the Human Genome project other than sensing its importance. In fact, those with little prior background but desiring a general framework to begin to grasp this technology and its significance will benefit from consulting this book. The book does not assume basic scientific understanding but is adept enough to enable a reader to flip through the first three chapters of background to proceed directly to the applications chapters and still benefit. The authors are sufficiently authoritative in their field and have the necessary awareness to provide this framework and overview.
Features: The book is scantily illustrated by 15 line figures. There is a useful glossary as well as a very brief reference guide to further reading. The table of contents and index are adequate. The appearance of the book is basic, in keeping with a desire to provide an affordable, accessible guide. The uniqueness of this book lies in ability to provide virtual novices an eminently readable and concise tome that provides a contiguous sense of the history of this endeavor, the spectrum of genetic engineering applications from man to plants, while demystifying these technologies and presenting general societal concerns and themes.
Assessment: This book enters a somewhat crowded market but its concise and summarizing virtues confer reasonable competitiveness.

Doody's Review Service

"The writing is concise, accessible, and the book appears to achieve most of its aims." Doody's Notes

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