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Title: Beyond Evolution: The Genetically Altered Future of Plants, Animals, the Earth...and Humans by Michael W. Fox ISBN: 1-55821-901-3 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: 01 September, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.6 (5 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Our genes are damaged by pollution, not by gene technology
Comment: Beyond Evolution is an OK book. However, thinking, reading, talking, and writing too much about bioengineering take our focus away from a problem that is 1000 times as dangerous as the dangers of gene technology. I'm talking about The Genetic Catastrophe. Don't you understand? I think you do not. Well, then, read the more than important book Genetic Catastrophe! Sneaking Doomsday? written by the discoverer of the GC. You have no alternative book to read. Read it, and be among the first to know how our genes are beeing damaged by today's pollution, including radiation.
Rating: 2
Summary: No substantive arguments here
Comment: Any book that deals with scientific issues and its relation to morality and ethics will be controversial, and this book is no exception. It is an attempt to address the ethical issues in genetic engineering, but it does not do so in a way that is really convincing. Those against genetic engineering in any form will probably like the book, and those for genetic engineering will no doubt not like it. But for those who are genuinely attempting to answer the enormous legal and ethical complexities of genetic engineering, this book fails. The author does not substantiate his arguments with experimental data or references to such data, one example being the claim that 60% of processed foods now contain genetically engineered ingredients. What are some examples of these products? Where does the author get his estimates? The author also makes sneering and sarcastic remarks regarding the profession of genetic engineering, referring to them as a 'scientific priesthood', or as 'genetic sorcerers'.
The author blames the Enlightenment period for fostering an attitude of recklessness and disrespect for animal life, the philosophers Descartes and Bacon being blamed primarily for fostering attitudes that encourage animal cruelty and disrespect for animal life in general. But Descartes and Bacon are not the only representatives of the Enlightenment period, and moreover the period encouraged optimism and respect for all life, contrary to the author's claims. The attitudes of legal reasoning of that period have continued to this day in animal rights movements, something the author, as a vetenarian, no doubt supports. The critical thinking and openness to new ideas were encouraged by the thinkers of the Enlightenment, and such thinking will allow those in the present day to use genetic engineering in a socially responsible manner.
In addition, the author should remember that humans are indeed part of nature; they evolved right along with other life forms. As such, it is a valid argument to say that genetic engineering of life forms is part of the evolutionary process. The time scales involved are much faster than for 'ordinary' evolution without human intervention. This of course does not make genetic engineering a 'legitimate' activity, but it does refute objections to it on the lines that it is 'unnatural' or 'inorganic'. One cannot object to genetic engineering solely on the basis that genetic changes through its use take place much faster than evolution without human intervention.
The author is clearly against the big-business aspects of genetic engineering, referring to it as 'genetic imperialism'. He is reluctant to call those who develop genetically engineered crops 'farmers', but instead calls them 'peons' who are bankrolled by the evil behemoth of agribusiness. But why should not the the organic food market, which is a multi-billion dollar business, be characterized in the same way? Clearly from reading the book, the author is a proponent of organic agriculture, a sector that stands to lose its position in the market if genetically engineered food is accepted by the majority of the public. Both the organic foods industry and the genetically-modified food industry have both been very aggressive in their advertising, each claiming to offer food products that are more 'wholesome' for the consumer. Only rigorous testing and an understanding of human nutritional needs can determine in fact whether genetically modified foods are superior to foods that are not. No amount of advertising, nor unsubstantiated claims by the author that the adoption of organic methods is optimal for food production and human health, will change the actual facts about organic or genetically modified foodstuffs. In addition, it does not matter whether the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture is in fact undermining the proposed National Organic Standards. Government departments have made blunders before, the mere fact that they are doing so again does not by itself imply that genetically modified foods are dangerous, or incompatible with organic agriculture, as the author contends. It merely means that the USDA is engaging in favoritism.
The author is also way out of line in his claims that the practice and philosophy of organic agriculture is commendable because of its satisfaction of some key bioethical principles, one of these being that organic farming seeks to minimize harm to natural ecosystems. He does not provide any evidence that genetic engineering is more malicious or lacks regard for the environment. Secondly, he claims that organic farming enhances biodiversity, a claim that is totally unsubstantiated and in fact counterintuitive. Genetic engineering allows, through transgenic strategies, a wider variety of organisms and at a shorter time scale.
The author also claims that those who advocate the changing of distinct and unique species for purely human ends have no reverence for life. Again, the author should not make this claim without first-hand knowledge of the people involved in genetic engineering. There are no doubt genetic engineers along with organic farmers who fit this description, along with many in both camps who do not.
Also, the author claims that there is no scientific evidence the genetically engineered crops are the answer to world hunger and then asserts that there is 'clear evidence' that organic agriculture does. This evidence though is not expounded upon in this book.
In addition, genetically modified foods are not 'infected', and biotechnology is not 'genetic pollution', as the author charges. Such vituperation has no place in scientific debate, and serves only to raise the level of truculence on both sides of the issue.
The most interesting part of the book is that the author inadvertently introduces the reader to some of the more fascinating research that is currently conducted in genetic engineering, such as genetically modified insects.
One of course should admire the high degree of compassion the author shows towards animal life. It should be taken as an axiom that all forms of life deserve respect and should be treated with kindness...and this goes for genetically engineered lifeforms, whenever and wherever they are produced.
Rating: 4
Summary: A thoughtful look at a troubling subject.
Comment: Fox does an excellent job of tracking all of the unanswered questions that still plague the issue of genetically engineered lifeforms. Fox loses me, though, when he steers away from science and into a sort of mysticism about each species "anima". I also disagree with his assertion that a vegetarian lifestyle is all that is needed to do away with cancer and heart disease. Genetic research can help in many of these cases, but Fox's book serves a caution sign, warning us to be aware of all of the implications of this new technology.
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Title: What Went Wrong? : The Clash Between Islam and Modernity in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis ISBN: 0060516054 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 07 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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