Biotechnology : our future as human beings and citizens /

This stimulating book is primarily concerned with the threat (or promise) of a "post-human" era ushered in by biotechnology, where scientists not only treat diseases but "enhance" our lives and society, compliments of the brave new world of genetics. (There is frequent mention of Aldous Huxley.) Of the seven authors, three caution restraint, and four believe that people are quite capable of managing these new powers. R. Bailey (chapter 2) sums up the book quite well: the tension "is between those who fear what humans, having eaten of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, might do with biotechnology, and those ... who think that it is high time that we also eat of the Tree of Life." (The book requires some biblical literacy.) Those urging restraint do so from a biblical view of humanity--both transcendent and morally frail--and insist there are powers with which people should not be entrusted. Those arguing for unfettered biotechnology do so without significant notions of transcendence, and with confidence in humanity's own moral senses, even as people gain the power to change those senses. This book will not change many opinions, but gives a clear window on the thinking of both sides. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels of academic and general readers. R. Seelke University of Wisconsin--Superior