Book Description
Read it.
You're already living it.
Was diabetes evolution's response to the last Ice Age? Did a deadly genetic disease help our ancestors survive the bubonic plagues of Europe? Will a visit to the tanning salon help lower your cholesterol? Why do we age? Why are some people immune to HIV? Can your genes be turned on -- or off?
Joining the ranks of modern myth busters, Dr. Sharon Moalem turns our current understanding of illness on its head and challenges us to fundamentally change the way we think about our bodies, our health, and our relationship to just about every other living thing on earth, from plants and animals to insects and bacteria.
Through a fresh and engaging examination of our evolutionary history, Dr. Moalem reveals how many of the conditions that are diseases today actually gave our ancestors a leg up in the survival sweepstakes. When the option is a long life with a disease or a short one without it, evolution opts for disease almost every time.
Everything from the climate our ancestors lived in to the crops they planted and ate to their beverage of choice can be seen in our genetic inheritance. But Survival of the Sickest doesn't stop there. It goes on to demonstrate just how little modern medicine really understands about human health, and offers a new way of thinking that can help all of us live longer, healthier lives.
Survival of the Sickest is filled with fascinating insights and cutting-edge research, presented in a way that is both accessible and utterly absorbing. This is a book about the interconnectedness of all life on earth -- and, especially, what that means for us.
Customer Reviews:
Engaging but Sometimes Misleading.......2007-10-17
If Moalem and Prince were more careful with their facts, and pointed their readers to other works in this field, I would rate this book 5 stars. It is lively and readable, and will please many light readers.
On the other hand ... while there is a reference in the notes to a Scientific American review article by Nesse and Williams, there are no mentions of their excellent books "Why We Get Sick" and "Evolution and Healing". While a light reader may find those books a bit dry, a more scientifically minded reader will find much food for thought. Moalem and Prince are not trying to be scholarly, but they should acknowledge their scholarly antecedents. There are echos of Nesse and William's "Evolution ... " in the structure and style of Moalem and Price's "Sickest ...", and that should be noted.
The material on human cryonic suspension (page 42 of the first hard cover edition) should either be properly researched or left out of future editions. Wood frogs cannot depend on external interventions to recover from freezing - humans have more options. Whether cryonics will eventually work or not, cryonics practitioners focus on the minimization of freezing damage to cellular structure, and perfuse their subjects with high concentrations of ice-thwarting chemicals. Research in this area is already improving preservation for transplants. There is still massive cell damage, of course, and the cryonic subjects beginning the process are already "dead", so there will be a lot to repair. However, the structural, chemical, and genetic information necessary to make those repairs and replacements is preserved by the modified freezing process. Molecular scale nanomachines and external computation and direction will be essential to repair the damage, but high-tech external manipulation is needed now to cure many diseases. The necessary technology is under development. Check the Alcor (www.alcor.org) and Foresight Institute (www.foresight.org) websites for pointers to these fascinating subjects. They, too, can be a little purple in their prose, but they usually acknowledge the speculative nature of their work, and the long road ahead of them.
I hope the other unreferenced material in "Survival ..." is more firmly grounded. While the "on the one hand, on the other hand" style of many scientific works is aggravating to readers who want blinding certainty, it does help careful readers understand the actual state of knowledge. Even if banished to the notes, such "weasel wording" can keep the authors of review books such as this from being tagged as exemplars of error, as they note happened to Lamark. Moalem can write a better book than this, and I hope he gets the opportunity.
Very,very, interesting.......2007-09-21
This is one of those books that is a delightful read, educating, interesting, and entertaining. The author puts forth his theories that many modern diseases are variations of evolutionary traits that were held by our ancestors that enabled them to survive the ice age and bubonic plague. He goes on to describe how viruses cause certain behavior in their carriers to help the viruses survival. The common cold leaves you well enough to stay moving and go to work so you can spread the virus to others, while the parasitic malaria wants you immobile and in bed because mosquitos can continue to carry it even better with you immobile.
The author also presents a case currently making head way in evolutionary science that is challenging the savannah theory. He proposes that we are evolved form aquatic apes as opposed to grassland dwellers, which would explain our hairlessness like other aquatic mammals and being bipedal. We also have fat stored at the skin like water dwellers and our infants have swimming instincts at birth that have been proven by water birthing that is very successful.
And finally I was really fascinated by the finding that what scientists have believed were "junk DNA" is slowly being shown to actually be a creative force that causes mutations in DNA for the benefit of survival of the species. I have always had trouble believing in the evolutionary theory because no mechanism could be created with causing it outside of God, and God would not need it. I also believed that the key was in DNA. Now I have a cause, the DNA itself creates and casues beneficial mutations.
I really can not do this book justice in a review with out making it far to long so buy the book if the above sounds interesting. The book presents an excellent case and has made me a believer.
Evolution in a way you never knew!.......2007-09-08
Everything out there is influencing the evolution of everything else. The bacteria and viruses and parasites that cause disease in us have affected our evolution as we have adapted in ways to cope with their effects. In response they have evolved in turn, and keep on doing so.
There are many dietary diseases that have had an evolutionary advantage in our ancestors but that today do more harm than good. In a person with hemochromatosis, for example, the body always thinks that it doesn't have enough iron and continues to absorb iron unabated. The excess iron can lead to liver failure, heart failure, diabetes, and even cancer.
Why would a disease so deadly be bred into our genetic code? Remember how natural selection works. If a given genetic trait makes you stronger--especially if it makes you stronger before you have children--then you're more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass that trait on. People with hemochromatosis have therefore an evolutionary advantage--protection against the bubonic plague!
On one set of experiments, macrophages from people who had hemochromatosis and macrophages from people who did not were matched against bacteria in separate dishes to test their killing ability. The hemochromatic macrophages crushed the bacteria. They are thought to be significantly better at combating bacteria by limiting the availability of iron than the nonhemochromatic macrophages. So though hemochromatosis will kill those inflicted with it decades later, they are much more likely than people without hemochromatosis to survive plagues, reproduce, and pass the mutation on to their children.
Diabetes also provided an evolutionary advantage to our ancestors by providing superior ability to withstand the cold by eliminating water and driving up sugar levels (like alcohol, sugar is a natural antifreeze). As a theory, it's hotly controversial, but diabetes may have helped our European ancestors survive the sudden cold, including the ice-age.
Malaria is an infectious disease that infects as many as 500 million people every year, killing more than 1 million of them. But not everyone who gets bit by malaria-carrying mosquitoes gets infected. And not everybody who gets infected dies. So what's helping the malaria survivors? People with a genetic tendency for sickle-cell anemia, another inherited blood disorder, had better natural resistance to malaria.
As you've seen with hemochromatosis, diabetes, and sickle-cell anemia, one generation's evolutionary solution is another generation's evolutionary problem.
At the end of the day, every living thing shares two hardwired imperatives: Survive. Reproduce. To achieve this, some organisms have inherited ingenious techniques to manipulate their hosts--the phenomenon that occurs when a parasite provokes its host to behave in a way that helps the parasite to survive and reproduce.
Orb weavers are a family of spiders that experience host manipulation. A wasp bites the spider, temporarily paralyzing it, then deposits its egg in its abdomen. The spider then goes on with his life oblivious to the egg in him. The egg then hatches, and the larva slowly feeds off the blood of the spider. When it is ready to cocoon, it injects chemicals into the spider's bloodstream to manipulate the spider into building a special web for it--instead of building circular webs, it goes back and forth building a rectangular web. Once the web is completed, the larva kills the spider by sucking off all its blood, and then throwing its carcass to the jungle floor below. It then uses the specially built web for it to cocoon by hanging on it.
A worm that infects ants is a classic example of another host manipulator. As the worms being carried by the ant develop, one of them makes its way to the ant's brain where it manipulates the ant's nervous system. Suddenly, the ant behaves in completely uncharacteristic fashion. At night, it leaves its colony and hangs on the tip of a grass, waiting to be eaten by a sheep. If it does not, it returns to its colony only to resume again its journey at night to the tip of a grass waiting to be eaten. Once eaten by a sheep, the worm would have succeeded in its manipulation, and would grow inside the sheep's stomach, its intended host.
The rabies Virus is another interesting host manipulator. It manipulates its host into becoming aggressive, which will make its host bite others and thus also infecting others.
Here is one amazing example of host manipulation: One researcher has discovered that women infected with T. gondii spend more money on clothes and are consistently rated as beings more attractive than women without the infection. Infected women were more easy-going, more warm-hearted, had more friends, and cared more about how they looked. However, they were also less trustworthy and had more relationships with men. Infected men, on the other hand, were less well groomed, more likely to be loners, and more willing to fight. They were also more likely to be suspicious and jealous and less willing to follow rules.
A normal sneeze occurs when the body's self-defense system senses a foreign invader trying to get in through your nasal passages and acts to repel the invasion by expelling it with a sneeze. But sneezing when you've got a cold? There's obviously no way to expel the cold virus which is already lodged in you. The cold virus has learned this reflex so it can infect your colleagues, family and your friends. Your body is actually being manipulated by the virus into sneezing!
The herpes virus may heighten sexual feeling, which will increase the probability of transmission. In other words, sometimes the herpes virus may want you to get some action in order for it to spread to other hosts.
So what if we made it easier for a given type of bacteria to survive in a healthy human than to survive in a sick human? Would this create evolutionary pressure against behavior that harms us? In fact there is an evolutionary advantage for the malaria parasite to push its hosts toward the brink of death. The more parasites swarming through our blood, the more parasites the mosquito is likely to ingest; the more parasites the mosquito ingests, the more likely it will cause an infection when it bites someone else. Cholera is similar--it doesn't need us moving around to find new hosts, so there's no reason for the bacteria to select against virulence. The bottom line is that if an infectious client has allies (such as mosquitoes) or good delivery systems (such as unprotected water supplies), peaceful coexistence with its host becomes a lot less important. In those cases evolution is likely to favor versions of the parasite that best exploit its host's resources, allowing the parasite to multiply as much as possible. Some researchers believe that we can use this understanding to influence the evolution of parasites away from virulence. The basic theory is this: shut down the modes of transmission that don't require human participation and suddenly all the evolutionary pressure is directed at allowing the human host to get up and get out. According to this theory, the virulence of a cholera outbreak in a given population should be directly related to the quality and safety of that population's water supply. If sewage flows easily into rivers that people wash in or drink from, then the cholera strain would evolve toward virulence--it can multiply freely, essentially using up its hosts, relying on its access to the water supply for transmission. But if the water supply is well protected, the organism should evolve away from virulence--the longer it remains in a more mobile host, the better its chance of transmission.
A series of cholera outbreaks that began in Peru in 1991 and spread across South and Central America over the next few years provide compelling evidence that this theory might actually work. The water supply systems from country to country ranged from relatively advanced to seriously rudimentary. Sure enough, when the bacteria invaded nations with poorly protected water supplies, such as Ecuador, the virus became more harmful as it spread. But in countries with safe water supplies, such as Chile, the bacteria evolved downward in virulence and killed fewer people. The implications of this are huge. Instead of challenging bacteria to become stronger and more dangerous through an antibiotic arms race (which we are currently losing), we could essentially challenge them to get along. If mosquitoes didn't have access to bedridden malaria patients, the microbe would be under evolutionary pressure to evolve in a way that allowed the infected person to remain mobile, increasing the opportunity for it to spread.
A series of groundbreaking research has shown that certain compounds can attach themselves to specific genes and suppress their expression. Let's take a look at a few examples. Depending upon the time of year the vole (a type of mouse) is due to give birth, baby voles are born with either a thick coat or a thin coat. The gene for a thick coat is always there--it's just turned on or off depending on the level of light the mother senses in her environment around the time of conception.
One species of lizard is born with a long tail and large body or a small tail and small body depending on one thing only--whether their mother smelled a lizard-eating snake while pregnant. When her babies are entering a snake-filled world, they are born with a long tail and big body, making them less likely to be snake food.
This is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it. I truly enjoyed reading it and I have learnt things I never imagined! Now that's what I call precious reading!
Understanding genetic disease from an evolutionary point of view.......2007-09-01
We really don't "need" disease. This is a bit misleading. It just so happens that some genetic disorders, such as sickle-cell anemia, favism, diabetes, hemochromatosis, the tendency to obesity, etc., confer on the afflicted compensatory advantages. Thus a predilection for getting fat is adaptive if a drought or a long winter beckons, or a person with a genetic tendency toward sickle-cell anemia is less likely to get malaria, and so on. Note that it is only diseases caused by genetic mutations that Dr. Moalem is talking about.
One of the techniques our bodies use when fighting infection is to reduce the amount of iron available to the invaders. Bacteria need iron to reproduce. If there is a lot of it available their numbers can grow quickly. Without iron they can't reproduce at all. Iron is a limiting factor for many kinds of life. Vast stretches of ocean support little in the way of life because the microorganisms that begin the food chain can't grow where there is so little iron. As Dr. Moalem reports in this wide-ranging and eyebrow-lifting book, sprinkle some iron onto those patches of ocean and they will quickly turn green with microorganisms.
So it is a bit of an irony that people who have hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that causes them to retain large amounts of iron in their bodies, are able to survival infections like the plague. This is because they starve the invading microbes through "iron locking." They have a lot of iron in their bodies, but they keep it away from the bacteria. Other people who have low levels of iron in their bodies are able to withstand bacterial attacks because they also keep what little iron they have away from the germs. In fact, one of the body's initial responses to microbial invasion is to limit the amount of free iron in the system.
Genetic coding for levels of iron in the body is an example of evolutionary adaptation, part of the ongoing arms race between us and the microbes that live in and on our bodies. This is just one of several interesting and new ideas coming from the growing science of evolutionary medicine that I found in Survival of the Sickest. Incidentally, one way to manage hemochromatosis is through donating blood on a regular basis, which explains in part why physicians of old were sometimes successful when they bled their patients.
This got me to thinking about "only women bleed" which led me to think about hemorrhoids (which prove that it isn't only women who bleed). Perhaps bleeding instead of retaining blood, which seems like the more natural thing for our bodies to do, has adaptive value in some people in some environments.
Another interesting idea is this from page 58: "ACHOO syndrome--its full name is autosomal dominant compelling heliopthalmic outburst syndrome." It is a "disorder that causes uncontrolled sneezing when someone is exposed to bright light, usually sunlight, after being in the dark." Dr. Moalem suggests that "way back when our ancestors spent more time in caves, this reflex helped them to clear out any molds or microbes that might have lodged in their noses or upper respiratory tract." Now this may sound a bit far fetched, but I have suffered from low grade allergies all my life, and used to have asthmatic attacks. I came to believe that the buildup in my lungs and the sneezing were signals to me to move on! Of course now I clean and vacuum like a germaphobe, but the idea is the same. My symptoms were adaptive. They more or less forced me to reduce the level of potential irritants and microbes in my environment.
But there is more. I noticed long ago that sometimes the sun in the morning would cause me to sneeze. I never figured out why until I read the above from Dr. Moalem. I am just the kind of person who would need to sneeze those molds out.
Later on in the book Moalem returns to an evolutionary idea that has been kicking around for decades. Beginning with the work of Elaine Morgan from the 1970s the public became aware of the notion that we humans had an aquatic past. She got the idea from marine biologist Alister Hardy. Through such books as The Descent of Woman (1972) and The Aquatic Ape: A Theory of Human Evolution (1982) Morgan argued that some of our unusual adaptations came about because we had an aquatic past. Taking up the idea, Moalem writes, "Every hairless mammal is aquatic or at least plays in the mud--think of hippos, elephants and the African warthog. But there aren't any hairless primates." (p. 198) Furthermore we have fat directly under our skin to help keep us warm just as aquatic mammals do. Also, Moalem notes, "the ability to survive on land and sea" gives us adaptive flexibility. If "chased by a leopard, the semiaquatic ape could dive into the water; chased by a crocodile, it could run into the forest." (p. 199)
These ideas are familiar but what I didn't know was that an aquatic past could have figured in our evolution toward bipedalism. "[S]tanding upright in water allowed...[aquatic apes] to venture into deeper water and still breathe, and the water helped to support their upper bodies, making it easier to support them on two feet." (p. 199)
This is an easy to read book, aimed at a general readership. An earlier, slightly more technical book that covers some of the same territory is Why We Get Sick: The New Science of Darwinian Medicine (1994) by Randolph M. Nesse and George C. Williams, which I also recommend.
Razzle dazzle them.......2007-08-27
This book embodies much of what I dislike in popular cience books, while having few of the qualities I admire in such books. It relies more on sleigh of the hand and razzle dazzle, you-wouldn't-have-thought-of-it than on throughly thought out, well substantiated lines of thought.
Let's start with the subtitle: "A medical maverick discovers why we need disease". That is a clear case of fiction: nowhere in the book does the author "discover" anything; he merely retells the study of others. This, of course, is not a demerit, as many interesting scientists have difficulties in explaining their work in clear terms, acessible to the layman. However, the author must be hyped as the "discoverer", as the center figure in the tale.
Since James Burke's "Connections", it seems that popular science must explore all the crossroads, no matter how irrelevant. So Moalem goes on long tangents that have little to do with the theory he is trying to substantiate. In order to show how diabetes works to protect the body against cold, the reader is taken through the mechanism of an ice age, how ice core samples are removed and so on. If one were to remove all this "extra" material, this book would be thin indeed.
The book seems to revolve around this material and the author's use of jokes. Unfortunately, his sense of humour tends more towards ha-ha than funny, which helped to further fray my patience towards this book.
All of this is indeed a pity, as the subject is very interesting. If more pages had been dedicated to developing a central line of thought and substantiation and to showing the debate behind all these ideas (in a real light, instead of "the thickheaded traditionalists who won't accept new ideas"), it would be well worth the read.
Book Description
A comprehensive reference on diagnosis and evaluation of reproductive risks and genetically related high-risk pregnancies. Authored by international group of experts, this book is organized according to diagnostic method, source of reproductive risk, and system under evaluation. Features the latest imaging technology, a review of genetics, molecular biology, and cytogenetics, and special chapters on counseling, cross-cultural, legal, and ethical issues.
Book Description
The great inventor and futurist Ray Kurzweil is one of the best-known and controversial advocates for the role of machines in the future of humanity. In his latest, thrilling foray into the future, he envisions an event—the “singularity”—in which technological change becomes so rapid and so profound that our bodies and brains will merge with our machines.
The Singularity Is Near portrays what life will be like after this event—a human-machine civilization where our experiences shift from real reality to virtual reality and where our intelligence becomes nonbiological and trillions of times more powerful than unaided human intelligence. In practical terms, this means that human aging and pollution will be reversed, world hunger will be solved, and our bodies and environment transformed by nanotechnology to overcome the limitations of biology, including death.
We will be able to create virtually any physical product just from information, resulting in radical wealth creation. In addition to outlining these fantastic changes, Kurzweil also considers their social and philosophical ramifications. With its radical but optimistic view of the course of human development, The Singularity Is Near is certain to be one of the most widely discussed and provocative books of 2005.
Customer Reviews:
uninteresting.......2007-10-17
really not impressed, it's a collection of items and examples that don't necessarily fit together.
The style seems somehow childish...
I personally am disapointed...
Fantastic insight into a possible, plauible future of humans and the universe.......2007-10-07
This is one the the favorite books I have ever read. It is not an easy read for a non-scientist, but absolutely rewarding. It is surprisingly accessible, despite the technical and intellectual scope. The logical and insightful nature of Kurzweil's arguments make it a compelling and inspirational read. The book has had a huge impact on my thinking and introduced me to the whole subject of futurism. It is affecting my investment and career decisions. There were numerous mind-bending, mind-expanding moments during reading this as the gravity of the concepts sank in. Garreau's book, Radical Evolution, is a great follow-up read, comparing and contrasting Kurzweil's optimism with the pessimism of others. It is a joy and luxury to be exposed to the visions such "big thinkers".
Look-out future here we come.......2007-09-10
I read this book with such optimism for our future. I only hope to live long enough to see some of the exciting events in our future on this planet. Just when you think you have seen it all, you "ain't seen nutt'n yet". Come on world let's work together and solves some of the mysteries that are tearing us apart.
hold onto your hat.......2007-08-29
the future is going to be wild.
ray kurzweil is the leading guru of the not so far off world where key technologies merge to allow us to turn ourselves into non biological humans.
no crack pot he. when kurzweil presented his thesis at MIT the arguments centered on the when, not the if of kurzweils predictions
Not for non geeks!.......2007-07-26
Although the reading is tedious for someone who is not that scientifically or computer oriented, the concepts and ideas the book presents are fascinating and a bit scary!
Customer Reviews:
great medical research, and a devastating critique of "production line" medicine.......2007-03-03
Roger Williams was a professor of Medicine at the University of Texas - Austin, who wrote this book about the differences that pathologists and other doctors routinely find in human beings.
Unless you have a rather uncommon interest in anatomical or biochemical trivia, the literal contents of this book will probably not interest you. After all, how many people are interested by how many different stomach shapes there are, and how common they are? But if you are -at all- interested by medicine, and the more philosophical questions that medicine raises, the implications of the contents of this book will probably be of great interest to you, and quite likely prompt you to reconsider some of your beliefs and understanding of medicine.
Williams' exhaustive lists of all the differences in the human body is in stark contradiction to the reductionistic medical thinking, where diseases are often diagnosed by checklist-based symptom clusters and then treated with one size fits all "blockbuster" drugs. After having read, perhaps at times even slogged through, all the differences that Williams lists, you are left with no room to doubt that the differences among human beings are so great that medicine ought to be geared towards noting the differences among humans, and devising individualized treatment regimens that take advantage of these differences, rather than forcing human beings into "one size fits all" "production line" medicine, as often happens when medicine is reduced to standardized treatment algorithms that (sometimes) flowchart into one of a handful of "blockbuster" medications, based on studies reported by researchers oftentimes wearing the rosiest of sunglasses. If you base an endeavor on flawed or inadequate premises, the results of your efforts can only transcend these flaws through serendipitous (and unlikely) errors.
Medicine, as Hippocrates already wrote, is ultimately an art, and not a science; this book provides a timely and useful reminder of this fact of life to anyone with a true interest in or passion for medicine. Heartily recommended.
Biochemical Individuality.......2001-03-01
Biochemical Individuality was first published by Dr. Roger J. Williams in 1956. It has just been reissued with a new introduction by Jeffrey S. Bland, Ph.D. Dr. Bland explains that Dr. Williams was the first to recognize all humans differ biochemically from others. He says that Dr. Williams was also the first to recognize that "nutritional status can influence the expression of genetic characteristics."
Dr. Williams conducted his own studies, as well as drawing on the work of others, to show that each of us is different. One chapter describes differences in anatomy, outlining how even such vital organs as hearts and stomachs vary in size, shape, and physical location from person to person.
The chapter on pharmacology explains how, even though the chemistry of each is known, drugs effect people in different ways, due to differences in body chemistry. That's why what works for one person doesn't necessarily work for another.
Dr. Williams says that "while the same physical mechanisms and the same metabolic processes are operating in all human bodies, the structures are sufficiently diverse [that] the sum total of all the reactions taking place in one individual's body may be very different from those taking place in the body of another individual of the same age, sex, and body size."
His observations led Dr. Williams to theorize that each individual also had unique nutritional needs, and that determining and meeting those needs would help combat disease.
Although written in academic language, Biochemical Individuality is of interest all readers who recognize "there is no such thing as a truly 'normal' individual" and that people have "unique biochemical profiles based upon their own genetic structure, nutrition, and environment."
A Nutrition Classic That Everyone Should Read.......1999-03-19
This is one of the most important books written in the history of nutrition. A must for everyone who wants to appreciate how one diet, one supplement regime, and one food pyramid do not fit all. We all have greatly differing needs, and Dr. Williams documents all of this eloquently and convincingly. This book should be read by everyone who cares about their health. It will make them realize that only when they understand their individual nutrition needs and meet them can they have optimal health. Thank you, Keats, for reprinting this timeless book!
Book Description
What if you could be smarter, stronger, and have a better memory just by taking a pill?
What if we could alter our genes to cure Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s?
What if we could halt or even reverse the human aging process?
What if we could communicate with each other simply by thinking about it?
These questions were once the stuff of science fiction. Today, advances in biotechnology have shown that they’re plausible, even likely to be accomplished in the near future. In labs around the world, researchers looking for ways to help the sick and injured have stumbled onto techniques that enhance healthy animals—making them stronger, faster, smarter, and longer-lived—in some cases, even connecting their minds to robots and computers across the Internet. Now science is on the verge of applying this knowledge to healthy men and women, allowing us to alter humanity in ways we’d previously only dreamed possible. The same research that could cure Alzheimer’s is leading to drugs and genetic techniques that could boost human intelligence. The techniques being developed to stave off heart disease and cancer have the potential to slow or even reverse human aging. And brain implants that restore motion to the paralyzed and sight to the blind are already allowing a small set of patients to control robots and computers simply by thinking about it.
Not everyone welcomes this scientific progress. Cries of “against nature” arise from skeptics even as scientists break new ground at an astounding pace. Across the political spectrum, the debate roils: Should we embrace the power to alter our minds and bodies, or should we restrict it?
Distilling the most radical accomplishments being made in labs worldwide, including gene therapy, genetic engineering, stem cell research, life extension, brain-computer interfaces, and cloning, More Than Human offers an exciting tour of the impact biotechnology will have on our lives. Throughout this remarkable trip, author Ramez Naam shares an impassioned vision for the future with revealing insight into the ethical dilemmas posed by twenty-first-century science.
Encouraging us to celebrate rather than fear these innovations, Naam incisively separates fact from myth, arguing that these much-maligned technologies have the power to transform the human race for the better, so long as individuals and families are left free to decide how and if to use them.
If you’ve ever wondered about the boundaries of humanity, More Than Human offers a vision of a world where we use our knowledge to improve ourselves, unhindered by the fear of change.
Customer Reviews:
More than Interesting.......2006-07-23
Whether you are a technoprogressive biohacking singularity buff, or you think "H+" is just a hydrogen ion, this book will definitely interest you. Providing an incredibly optimistic view of the biotechnological advances soon to be made, Ramez Naam gives us a comprehensive overview of the potential benefits of human enhancement technologies. This book is nice in that is covers many aspects of current research in transhumanism, from mind-machine interfaces to gerontological engineering, unlike most books which are slimmer in scope. It is well written and well researched, although very obviously one-sided. If you want to get both sides of the controversy, read this, some Kurzweil, then check out Leon Kass or Francis Fukuyama. Although I don't agree with them, I suppose it's good to know your enemies =) Even if you've never heard of transhumanism, check this book out.
Explains Biological Enhancement For Everyone.......2006-03-26
Ramez Naan does a great job here detailing rapidly growing and maturing biological enhancement technologies. This is a very diverse field, ranging from life extension medications, genetic modifications, to minds hooked directly to the internet, and even mind-to-mind connections may be possible. Such mind/computer links may become natural extensions of ourselves, Naam writes. Idle speculation this is not, Naam gives many examples of present day uses, and also discusses research projects now under way, in addition giving extrapolations sometimes for up to several decades into the future. If you are interested in this sort of thing, I recommend THE SINGULARITY IS NEAR, by Ray Kurzweil, a very forward-looking book.
Unusual because it mixes realism and optimism so well.......2005-12-06
Most futurist manifestos are not well founded in reality. Naam did his homework, and has pages and pages of endnotes to prove it, and to lead the curious reader to the original sources. I share his extreme optimism about all these present and future avenues for human enhancement, but needed some better arguments on which to base my optimism. He provided more than enough, including thoughtful analyses of economic, ethical, and societal ramifications. To sum it up, it is all going to happen, whether we want it or not, and we better begin to get used to the ideas now, and prepare for enhanced humans of all sorts. Getting scared and putting regulations on things does not work--He has many examples of that. If we embrace change it will all go much more smoothly and sooner! I hug the future warmly.
Wired Brains, Hands, Even Arms & Legs........2005-10-06
What if we could communicate with each other simply by thinking about it? I try that all the time but I don't know if it works. Now, researchers have developed techniques to connect a human's mind to robots and computers across the Internet. Using brain implants to restore motion to the paralyzed and sight to blind people allow some patients to control robots (and computers) simply by thinking about it!
'Serenity' is closer to the truth, though based in 2046, with the behavior modification used on rebellious recruits. It gave power and strength to a skinny little girl, River, with fighting skills of a giant. I saw the tallest man I ever did see at the post office the other morning, and it was scary seeing how long and skinny his legs were.
Is it good to alter our minds? I've watched the hypnotist at the fair make "normal" volunteers from the group watching act silly and do ridiculous things. I had decided that he'd hypotized them with his melodious, deep voice, as his personality was not spectacular.
Labs worldwide are dabbling with cloning, stem cell research, and genetic engineering as shown so clearly in the movie, 'The Island,' craeting ethical dilemmas as to the "rightness" to change people in this manner. The United States of America have imposed severe limits on government funding for stem cell research, but have left the private sector to do what it wants. Though embryonic stem cell science got its start in the States, the rest of the world is fighting to take the lead.
We were not granted life extensions, which may be possible in the future, but at what cost? Will it make life better for the "altered" or will it turn them into robots as in 'The Stepford Wives"? Bodies are flexible; by contrast, "our computers are simple, rigid, specialized things. An e-mail program will never learn to handle voice-mail, despite the similarity between the two." Voice mail is available on some of the Internet carriers now, but you would need a new, energized system with plenty of memory space.
Should we fear change? Ramaz Naam doesn't think so. Thanks to him, I am able to use Internet Explorer to clear out the junk in my daily computing so this old computer will go another day. He was also intrumental in developing Microsoft Outlook, but that is something I haven't tried. I am still a novice on the computer, learned word processing some years ago, which come in handy on these reviews.
Brave new world or genetically-enhanced pipe dream?.......2005-08-25
The basic thesis of Ramez Naam's book is that with our ability to shape (especially to enhance) our biological nature through the tools of our culture--in particular, genetic engineering--we will transform humanity into "a plethora of forms," which will eventually result in thousands if not millions of new species. Naam contends that we will spawn "a new explosion of life as sudden and momentous as that of the Cambrian explosion" some 570 million years ago. (p. 233)
That's the upside. What is also possible (although Naam does not dwell on this) is that with biological enhancement tools that are presently coming into discovery and use, we may transform ourselves into beings who will have satisfied their every desire, and with that satiation, have put an end to desire. The result may very well be the end of human evolution, biological or cultural. And following that, the end of the species that began as a big-brained walking ape six million years ago.
Or none of the above.
This is the exciting part. We have no idea where cultural evolution is going to take us. We have no idea whether we will develop the ability to stave off natural disasters (rogue comets; nearby supernovae; unstoppable pathogens) or overcome our propensity to self-destruction in the form of perpetual war or the poisoning of our environment. Yet, modern Luddites and social conservatives notwithstanding, we will indeed use the tools we develop to initially prevent and cure ailments and deficiencies, and ultimately to enhance our abilities to enjoy and to get the most out of life.
This is what this book is all about. Naam begins with the fuzzy distinction between using genetic engineering to heal or to enhance, and makes two telling points: (1) it is often impossible to distinguish between a procedure done as part of the healing arts, or one done to enhance our abilities; and (2) whether we like it or not, given human nature (as it now exists!) if the enhancement tools are there, promising greater intelligence or greater beauty or longer life, then we humans will inevitably use such tools. If the Bush administration or some other Luddite-mentality government tries to suppress these tools, people will just go elsewhere. And those societies that fall behind will fall very far behind. The genetically enhanced will inherit the earth, and indeed it isn't much of a stretch to imagine a future in which those who have enhanced themselves are so far in advance of those who have not as to constitute superior beings. Will the Luddites become pets?
More immediately--keeping these ideas in mind--will it only be the rich who will benefit? Naam argues--and I think convincingly--that yes, at first only the rich will use the tools to better themselves and their children, but then lagging only ten or twenty years behind will come the total mass of humanity. Naam compares this process to that in the present day pharmaceutical environment in which initially the new drugs are very expensive, but after they go generic they become affordable to the masses.
There is so much in the book that I will not be able to get to even a fraction of it. So let me say that Naam has anticipated a lot of the criticism that will be leveled at his position and he has done a good job of answering it. The idea that we can somehow stop genetic engineering to save our human nature is shown as bogus since human nature is an ever evolving, ever changing abstraction. Even the concrete species itself (which is us) has changed mightily over the eons from Australopithecus to homo sapiens. And whether we lift a finger or not, we will eventually change again or go extinct. That is the main point. We cannot stop change. We cannot hope to preserve the present human "endowment." We can only hope to engage change, and with our intelligence make life better for ourselves and those to come, people who will be different from us, and going far enough into the future, very different from us.
For the here and now, Naam sees biotech and neurotech enhancements as "investments in valuable human capital." (p. 76) I believe this is the primary reason the United States must overcome the backward mentality of the Bush administration and support not only more stem cell research, but encourage a greater investment in all forms of biological engineering. If we don't we will fall behind those who do.
For others who see the ghost of eugenics in his position, Naam has an effective answer. He writes, "the only people advocating state control over the genetic makeup of the population are those who would like to see genetic enhancement techniques prohibited. The advocates of human enhancement, on the other hand, are arguing for individual and family choice, the opposite of state control." In other words, "...the prohibitionists are the ones upholding the eugenic side of this debate." (p. 166)
Naam gets very specific about the enhancements possible or at least conceivable, including brain-computer interfaces, brain implants, human cloning, electrical stimulation of the brain, preimplantation genetic diagnosis (which takes in vitro fertilization one step further), etc. Near the end of the book, he sees us communicating not only ideas and words, but thoughts, feelings and emotions to others directly from our brains as one would communicate through a wireless network. Eventually we will have "the flexibility to do what we like with the contents of our thoughts, feelings, and imaginations..."
Since all of this may sound scary (yet exhilarating), Naam adds, "and society will respond with new social norms to guide our choices." (p. 219)
Oh, brave new world that has such things in it!
The book is fascinating. Naam has not only done his homework, he has thought out the consequences of what he has found and provided the reader with some guidance.
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Genetics and Reductionism (Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Biology)
Sahotra Sarkar
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Book Description
With the advent of the Human Genome Project there have been many claims for the genetic origins of complex human behavior including insanity, criminality, and intelligence. But what does it really mean to call something "genetic"? This is the fundamental question that Sahotra Sarkar's book addresses. This important book clarifies the meaning of the term "genetic," shows how molecular studies have affected genetics, and provides the philosophical background necessary to understand the debates over the Human Genome Project. It will be of particular interest to professionals and students in the philosophy of science, the history of science, and the social studies of science, medicine, and technology.
Amazon.com
After centuries of outsiders carping about scientific reductionism, the promised synthesis is finally on its way. Immunology, genetics, medicine, neurology, and other fields are starting to overlap more and more, and prominent neuropsychiatrist Nancy C. Andreasen explores one exciting intersection in Brave New Brain. The author's broad understanding and straightforward writing offer readers a penetrating glimpse into new and future treatments for mental illness. Focusing on four devastating maladies (schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, and dementia), she shows what scientists have learned about them recently thanks to powerful imaging and biochemical tools. This knowledge, growing exponentially and integrated with data from diverse scientific research including the Human Genome Project, is used to propose mechanisms underlying diseases and potential cures--from genetic repair to bold new pharmacologic interventions.
Well-illustrated and lucidly explained, the book is an excellent lay primer on the brain and its disorders. Though Andreasen's prose isn't as elegant as some of her colleagues', it is clear and always to the point; many readers will appreciate the lack of distraction from the book's content. The hope she holds out to sufferers of mental illness, if not immediately promising, is certainly brighter than has been offered in recent years. Despite its moderately sinister title, Brave New Brain is an enlightening and even uplifting look at the convergence of several important scientific disciplines. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
Nancy Andreasen, a leading neuroscientist who is also Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious American Journal of Psychiatry as well as the winner of the illustrious National Medal of Science, offers here a state-of-the-art look at what we know about the human brain and the human genome--and shows how these two vast branches of knowledge are coming together in a boldly ambitious effort to conquer mental illness. Scientists today know more about the brain than ever before, thanks to new imaging techniques and to discoveries in neuroscience and molecular biology. Andreasen gives us an engaging and readable description of how it all works, from the billions of neurons to the tiny thalamus to the moral monitor in our prefrontal cortex. She also shows the progress made in mapping the human genome, whose 30,000 to 40,000 genes are almost all active in the brain. In perhaps the most fascinating section of the book, we read gripping stories of the people who develop mental illness, the friends and relatives who share their suffering, the physicians who treat them, and the scientists who study them so that better treatments can be found. This section covers four major disorders--schizophrenia, manic depression, anxiety disorders, and dementia--revealing what causes them, what happens to the mind and brain, and how the illnesses are treated. Finally, the book shows how the powerful tools of genetics and neuroscience will be combined during the next decades to build healthier brains and minds. Andreasen's bestselling The Broken Brain broke new ground in the public understanding of mental illness. Now, by revealing how combining genome mapping with brain mapping can unlock the mysteries of mental illness, she again offers general readers a remarkably fresh perspective on these devastating diseases--their nature, treatment, and possible future prevention.
Customer Reviews:
medication and andreason neuroscientist.......2005-12-07
As a society we face, is it medicine or out of my house. We have some knowledge of medicine but what we don't have is knowldege of what to do with our nations poor, we need to think about this. Walking is important for people on medications but they don't tell you about this. What they don't tell you is not to drink coffee's etc. Or that many over the counters in general are bad. Our knowledge continues to grow as a society, however, there are many things we don't know. Nancy C Andreason gives a good review of things, and a well rounded perspective of things in her Brave New Brain. I am interested in also her genetics research as well. I believe the NAMI which she has mentioned is not the best helping organization though, and there is not much outside support or resources to help disabeled people which I think we need more of, when they don't have there families anymore. We need to think about how we are going to house homeless etc.
Liberating Book of Facts.......2004-11-25
Having experienced schizophrenia firsthand in my immediate family beginning in the 1950s, I was interested in seeing what medical explanations are being explored and what progress has been made regarding this devastating illness. This book beautifully presents necessary background data on brain function and on basic chemistry and genetics, and then gives lucidly presented information about new strategies and treatments. Various fields of medicine, genetics, and chemistry are coming together to present the real albeit complex picture of what these awful illnesses are about and how we can work to live with them or overcome them. Mental illness must be liberated from individual guilt, shame, and social stigma, which are still very strong in human society. Only knowledge of the facts can free us from these crippling attitudes, and this terrific book goes a long way to help. The author's PhD in literature also adds a humanistic touch to a scientific work, which I deeply appreciated.
An Excellent Overview of the Genetics of Mental Illness.......2004-03-01
Nancy Andreasen is one of the top researchers in the field of Schizophrenia so is a good person to write this book. This is a very good book on the underlying causes of schizophrenia and other brain diseases and prospects better treatments and cures based on this knowledge. Great reading for a person who wants a better understanding of how the genetics revolution is impacting our knowledge of mental illness. Writen for a layman with some background or interest in science and biology.
A Liberating Book of Knowledge.......2003-12-09
Having experienced schizophrenia firsthand in my immediate family beginning in the 1950s, I was interested in seeing what medical explanations are being explored and what progress has been made regarding this devastating illness. This book beautifully presents necessary background data on brain function and on basic chemistry and genetics, and then gives lucidly presented information about new strategies and treatments. Various fields of medicine, genetics, and chemistry are coming together to present the real albeit complex picture of what these awful illnesses are about and how we can work to live with them or overcome them. Mental illness must be liberated from individual guilt, shame, and social stigma, which are still very strong in human society. Only knowledge of the facts can free us from these crippling attitudes, and this terrific book goes a long way to help. The author's PhD in literature also adds a humanistic touch to a scientific work, which I deeply appreciated.
Another Medical Classic.......2001-05-26
BRAVE NEW BRAIN follows up the classic THE BROKEN BRAIN, both written by Dr. Nancy Andreasen. She is a recent winner of the National Medal of Science, and a great thinker in the fields of medicine and philosophy of medicine. The book is written for the general public so they will become part of the great revolution of knowledge in the neurosciences. She details not only traditional psychiatric illnesses, but expands this view into the neurological illnesses. This is important as now psychiatry and neurology begin to merge, each developing a new respect for the field of the other. She details how psychiatry cannot solve all of our modern day society's woes, but must turn these over to individuals to seek answers. A recommended book for any public or private library.
Book Description
Nearly fifteen years ago, in The End of Nature, Bill McKibben demonstrated that humanity had begun to irrevocably alter and endanger our environment on a global scale. Now he turns his eye to an array of technologies that could change our relationship not with the rest of nature but with ourselves. He explores the frontiers of genetic engineering, robotics, and nanotechnology-all of which we are approaching with astonishing speed-and shows that each threatens to take us past a point of no return. We now stand, in Michael Pollan's words, 'on a moral and existential threshold,' poised between the human past and a post-human future. McKibben offers a celebration of what it means to be human, and a warning that we risk the loss of all meaning if we step across the threshold. Instantly acclaimed for its passion and insight, this wise and eloquent book argues that we cannot forever grow in reach and power-that we must at last learn how to say, 'Enough.'
Customer Reviews:
The Simple Life.......2007-07-28
McKibben has turned simplicity, primitivism and that universal longing railed against almost every aspect of modern American life - television, marketing, the environment, capitalism, education and now biotechnology with its evil twins, nanotech and artificial intelligence. He continues issuing dire warnings that the race is imperiled if we continue down our current paths. I think he would prefer extinction over transformation, something he sees with every genetic advance or scientific breakthrough. Except, of course, those he deems "allowable". Here, he is concerned about the genetic haves vs the have-nots - you know, the group with money will outperform those with less, an idea as old as society. In Bill Land folks just accept their fate and never change, accepting their lower status for lack of access to the techy gizmos of the Rich & Famous.
Here's the rub - it's a subjective matter of limits and definitions. Which of the following would he reject? Knee, hip, heart or liver replacement, cataract lenses, magnets in the brain to forestall epilepsy, regulators to pump blood, implants to kill cancer cells. The real question is what he thinks about using biotech letting the blind see, the deaf hear and the paralyzed walk. Is removal of pain with replacement joints "anti human"? Again, this is a matter of opinion (for him, not the poor victims). Lately, he has been warning that immortality may be around the corner in one form or another. He insists that death is a vital part of life, something that gives us our "humanity. " No, death is the termination of human life, good or bad. As one panelist at a symposium recently told him, he didn't mind if Bill wanted to die - he just didn't want to be told he had to also.
His real concern is genetic engineering and again we face the problem of who decides limits. He appears to "OK" some physical improvements but mental or emotional ones are taboo. We hear the usual red herrings - slippery slope arguments that if this happens then that will follow, designer babies, folks so smart they don't consider themselves human, people who won't know if they or a machine is "thinking", drugs to keep us happy or make into robots for "them", that nameless group that tells us to do bad things (probably fat, evil business types smoking cigars).
He has expressed dissatisfaction with the Industrial Age. We've become machines instead of frolicking through fields and woods. In better days, neighbors talked and relatives lived together. They would head out daily - mom to spend the day washing, dad & junior to hunt for dinner, sis sewing a new dress by hand. Technology has made our lives qualitatively better and easier, we live twice as long as just a few years ago and yet he has an array of statistics "proving" that we were happier before all this newfangled techno stuff. Could it be the hysterical unscientific news media with its "fear of the week"? You know, sharks, bird flue, Ebola, anthrax, mad cow, mad dog, hurricanes, "the environment", heat, cold, traffic, subliminal advertising....the list is endless as are those who think earlier ages were pastoral and peaceful. This is not only bad reading but also bad pleading.
A naturist's bias on germline genetic engineering.......2007-07-01
McKibben has some valid points and questions regarding germiline genetic engineering, unfortunately his stong naturist bias diminsh his credibility. He extensibly quotes scientists and experts on the matter, at the end what they say fits his idea that genetics and technlogy will be the apocalyptic executor.
Take for example three pages from his book were he uses the research work by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to demonstrate that genetic enhancement will not make people happier.
McKibben's claim that "What if you were thinking, in the back of your head, Is it really me doing this? Is it my programming? Am I losing myself, or is that feeling merely an artifact of my engineering? And those are precisely the sorts of thoughts that would rise in your mind because, in some ways, the whole point of flow experiences is to know yourself better" is emotional extortion, as if he is trying to scare people away from germline engineering. Either he doesn't understand the neurobiology of flow or he's just using a quote to fit his agenda, or both.
Flow is a term coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe a mental state characterized by lack of self-awareness and sharp concentration on the task at hand, not worried on how things are going or what the outcome will be. People engaged on this state perform at their best. Under flow action and awareness merge into one, lack of self and thinking creates a sense of deep relaxation and joy seems to arise by itself. Flow is also known as "the zone" by some athletes.
Characteristics of flow resemble meditation experiences. Zen meditation is a relaxed attentive state, on which the practitioner clear his or her mind of thinking. "Meditation then becomes several things other than a way to relax, physically and mentally. It becomes a way of not thinking, clearly, and then of carrying this clear awareness into everyday living" . Meditation is intrinsically rewarding and joyful. The mental state under flow and mediation are equal, the difference is that "flow" occurs during an activity while meditation is passive. Nevertheless mental clarity and intrinsic joy are the same.
In conclusion McKibben is putting thoughts on the head of somebody who doesn't exist and then he claims that these very thoughts will keep this individual from experiencing flow, thus preventing him from getting to know him-self better. Clearly he is projecting and scenario that doesn't exist but fits his purpose to plant the seed of doubt and fear on the minds of potential germline users. As for flow he doesn't understand that the insight arises after the experience not during it.
McKibben may have some valid points against germline but his strong naturist bias makes him to force facts to fit his purpose. Even more, he has a pessimistic opinion on the technology that doesn't meet his preferences; treadmills with electronic read-outs are ok. Had he been born fifty years earlier he would' written a book on the evils of running machines that prevent people from breathing fresh air at the risk of lung diseases.
Good Overall Explanation .......2007-06-27
The Strong point about this book is that it poses thought provoking questions. The author has really thought about this subject and where the field of genetics may lead us. The book provides some good explanations of the terms and types of research currently being carried on. He shows that by the time the nation starts legislating procedures it is generally too late. The author does bring up some pretty good predictions that society may be forced to deal with. The compulsion to fix detrimental hereditary diseases is really a forgone conclusion, Cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy etc, but will Genetic engineering rapidly go the route that plastic surgery traveled, from repairing hideous disfigurements to cosmetic [...] augmentation and facial makeovers. The author makes a very good point, if IQ or athletic ability can be increased by genetic tweaking and everyone is doing it for their kids, do you want your kid to be the only natural kid getting below average grades with below average athletic ability. The book definitely accomplished its purpose with this reader. I appreciate the ideas and societal situations this author has brought into the book and I have thought about it many times since I finished the book. Definitely worth a second read in the short-term future. The title is unfortunate, it sounds as if the author wants no more genetic progress, but the author wants to enjoy his "humanness" . He asks that society consider the big picture when dealing with limits to genetic engineering
A vital warning which may not be taken .......2007-04-17
This book opens in a very interesting way. McKibben gives his account of a marathon he participated in. Primarily he writes about his own struggle when he reached the point where his training and his adrenaline push were no longer enough. He writes about the moments in which he had to be totally concentrated in going on, a test of his own human strength, will, courage.
He then goes on to imagine what it might be like in the future should it be able to program human beings in such a way as to make them free of suffering from fatigue, and exhaustion. He suggests what certain kinds of technological improvements might do is to not simply provide the individual racer or marathoner with incredible speeds in today's terms but in fact cancel out the whole activity of racing.
In a sense this question the question of how technological improvements may deprive the human situation and even human nature and character of its meaning is at the heart of this book.
McKibben's main claim is that we must be able to know when we have gone far enough, and not go beyond it to a Pyrrhic victory . McKibben in this sense connects with bio- ethicists one of the most prominent of whom is Leon Kass in suggesting that in order to remain human we may have to limit our own hunger for overcoming our own limitations. We may have to stop ourselves from developing in areas where we have traditionally dreamed of developing.
One problem however which may be insurmountable is the competitive character of human beings. Also , human greed may play a part in pushing humans to seek their own advantage and profit at the expense of not simply their own humanity, but humanity as a whole.
My own sense is that McKibben has a very wise and important, perhaps even vital message for humanity- but that the likelihood of humanity taking it is truly questionable.
What is so natural about nature?.......2006-11-25
If you look at man as part of some divine plan then you can suppose that there is something inviolable in the status quo. This is the old argument that says things like if man were meant to fly then he would have been born with wings. McKibben may vehemently deny that this is his stance but in essence that is what it boils down to.
On the other hand if you look at the world the way it really is, what you see is an evolutionary process ruled by the law of survival of the fittest. To even call it "natural" selection is to create a bias that suggests that what took place is in some sense globally optimal. It is not. What takes place at any stage is an incremental improvement. To see the limitations all one has to do is to consider all the genetic defects that people can be born with.
What is natural is to use our intelligence to try to make improvements, to build airplanes to allow us to fly and create medicines and surgical procedures to repair and enhance. The one advantage that the ordinary evolutinary process has is that it is gradual. If at some point a defect is introduced, it will be weeded out with minimal damage. The great danger posed by improvements introduced by man is that we could introduce changes that have highly deleterious "side effects." But this is simply to provide a word of caution, not to abandon the whole enterprise of technological enhancement.
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- Clear-eyed Analysis of the Infertility World
- Mere markets?
- The Birth of the Scholarly Page Turner
- Informative book, but problems in adoption industry overlooked
- Insightful treatise on a difficult and emotional topic
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The Baby Business: How Money, Science, and Politics Drive the Commerce of Conception
Debora L. Spar
Manufacturer: Harvard Business School Press
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ASIN: 1591396204 |
Book Description
Despite legislation that claims to prohibit it, there is a thriving market for babies spreading across the globe
Fueled by rapid advances in reproductive medicine and the desperate desires of millions of would-be parents, the acquisition of children—whether through donated eggs, rented wombs, or cross-border adoption—has become a multibillion dollar industry that has left science, law, ethics, and commerce deeply at odds.
In The Baby Business, Debora Spar argues that it is time to acknowledge the commercial truth about reproduction and to establish a standard that governs its transactions. In this fascinating behind-the-scenes account, she combines pioneering research and interviews with the industry’s top reproductive scientists and trailblazers to provide a first glimpse at how the industry works: who the baby-makers are, who makes money, how prices are set, and what defines the clientele. Fascinating stories illustrate the inner workings of market segments--including stem cell research, surrogacy, egg swapping, “designer babies,” adoption, and human cloning--as Spar explores the moral and legal challenges that industry players must address.
The first purely commercial look at an industry that deals in humanity’s most intimate issues, this book challenges us to consider the financial promise and ethical perils we’ll face as the baby business moves inevitably forward.
Customer Reviews:
Clear-eyed Analysis of the Infertility World.......2007-07-04
Unlike so many books in this field, Ms. Spar does not fall into the trap of sensationalism. Of all of the books I've read on this technology and its impact on society, it is the best.
Mere markets?.......2006-09-20
The fact that this book is published by the Harvard Business School and the author is a professor there tells us much about how this topic is broached. The main focus of the book is on how the infertility industry (the baby business) and the market interact. Other vital elements, such as moral considerations, are barely mentioned. And this is where the book breaks down. Yes, the market side to the question is very important, and rightly needs to be explored, but taken out of a bigger social and ethical context, the approach comes across barren and empty (no pun intended).
Spar quickly dismisses ethical concerns, arguing that they are messy, controversial, and incapable of any resolution. Thus her focus is single: to see how the desire for babies fits in with the world of trade and commerce. And her premises are not easily gainsaid: people desire to have babies (and/or baby parts, or services, or technologies) and there are many who are happy to provide these things, especially for a price. It is as simple as that: supply and demand.
Economically speaking, as Spar keeps noting, it is a match made in heaven. This trade in babies is therefore inevitable and here to stay, she argues. The horse has bolted, and there is no going back to the stable now. We must live with the new reproductive technologies, and their inevitable commercialization. The only question is whether the baby market should be open slather, or whether some sort of regulatory scheme should be put in place.
The bulk of this book examines the various areas of the baby trade - be it IVF, surrogacy, sperm and egg selling, cloning and the like - and how money has been invariably linked to the fertility industry.
Of course this book describes the situation in the US, where there is very little government regulation at all over the fertility business. Other nations do have regulatory schemes in place, which the author refers to now and then. But it is the wild west of the American fertility trade that is in focus here.
Spar believes that the market will always be part of this industry, and that it is not a bad thing at all. But she recognizes that as the "product" in discussion is a human baby, many are reluctant to speak of it all in purely financial terms. She occasionally acknowledges the critics, like Leon Kass, who see much of the reproductive industry as involved in the commodification of children and the manufacture of life, but seems little impressed by their concerns.
Indeed, she says early on that the market will always triumph, while issues of morality will remain unresolved, and by implication, be of secondary importance. Thus she simply accepts the reproductive revolution and Big Biotech as necessary, inevitable forces that will not go away. Don't worry about the ethical concerns, she seems to suggest. Instead, given the inevitability of the market in this area, the only real issue is what kind of regulation, if any, do we want applied. The topic of regulation she only addresses briefly, and in her final chapter.
She in fact claims not to have any clear answers here. She does state her preference, a "light-handed regulatory regime" in which choice, information and costs are considered. She recognizes that there may be a dark side to an unchecked market, especially in some of the `yuk' areas like human cloning, but she seems to think the market as a whole, with a little help from the government, will largely get things right.
Thus she is optimistic about both the science and economics of the reproductive revolution. Many others, of course, are worried about the brave new world implications of where all this is headed. Spar here and there acknowledges these concerns, but generally sees them as irrelevant or of no great consequence. Of course such considerations are too controversial for many to even raise. Indeed, free marketers will be squeamish about such discussions. But they are nonetheless part of the equation.
Indeed, the traditional philosophical, spiritual and social implications are as much a part of this discussion as mere market concerns. So for a more inclusive and well-rounded discussion of these issues, the reader needs to go elsewhere.
But if the reader wants a simple overview and history of the new reproductive technologies, and their economic implications, this book is undoubtedly a good place to begin.
The Birth of the Scholarly Page Turner.......2006-03-30
This is good stuff-if not juicy, and Spar casts a wide net that doesn't miss a thing: conception techniques, fertility markets, surrogacy, designer babies, human cloning, and adoption. The writer also has the guts to have a lucid, constructive point of view-never backing away from the controversial subjects many would balk about discussing. This book is a must read for anyone who might, is, or has gone through any of the processes above, and for the rest of us like me, just a great eye-opening read. In fact, I kept thinking as the pages turned: "I had no idea..." As a piece of scholarly writing it is immaculate (check out the pages of footnotes!), but more impressive is the fact that Spar's writing style is trenchant, entertaining and unwavering in it's ability to present a point of view to the reader. I wasn't expecting it, but Spar continually challenges and provokes as she weaves her riveting tale of the dynamics of a topic-both moral and technical-that is dear to the hearts of us all: babies. Wow. A scholarly page-turner!? Shouldn't there be an award for that? It's great read, and I highly recommend it.
Informative book, but problems in adoption industry overlooked.......2006-03-09
This was a very informative book, and I'm glad I bought it. However, the chapter on adoption glossed over the serious problems with the U.S. adoption industry. The book says that "adoption works." It may work for the baby-buyers and baby-sellers, but evidence shows it does not work well for mothers who are separated from their children by adoption. The book also implies that mothers choose to surrender their children for adoption, when in fact, most mothers who surrender their children to adoption believe that they have no other options, are uninformed about their options for keeping their child, are uninformed about the consequences of adoption, and/or are pressured or coerced to surrender. While the adoption industry provides privileged women with the choice of aquiring someone else's baby, it takes away poor women's choice to keep their child. See www.OriginsUSA.org and http://www.originscanada.org/adoption_coercion.html
Insightful treatise on a difficult and emotional topic.......2006-03-01
A very insightful treatise on a very difficult and necessarily emotional topic. For anyone involved in the business of fertility or interested in using non-traditional methods of conception or the adoption of children, a must read. Ms. Spar's book is a frank, detailed plunge into the practices, economies and ethics of the "Baby Business" with conclusions that propose a gentle regulation of reproduction practices.
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Backdoor to Eugenics
Troy Duster
Manufacturer: Routledge / Taylor & Francis
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ASIN: 0415946743 |
Book Description
Considered a classic in the field, Troy Duster's Backdoor to Eugenics was a groundbreaking book that grappled with the social and political implications of the new genetic technologies. Completely updated and revised, this work will be welcomed back into print as we struggle to understand the pros and cons of prenatal detection of birth defects; gene therapies; growth hormones; and substitute genetic answers to problems linked with such groups as Jews, Scandinavians, Native American, Arabs, and African Americans. Duster's book has never been more timely.
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