Designing Babies: The Brave New World of Reproductive Technology

No other subject in science today provokes more controversy than human reproduction and genetics. Our increasing ability to manipulate fertility and shape our genetic destiny raises many questions -- both practical and ethical -- and creates hope and fear for the future in equal measure.

In Designing Babies, reproductive expert Roger Gosden provides a compelling overview of this biological revolution. In clear, non-technical language, he explains the science that is emerging and addresses the many social and ethical dilemmas involved. He also offers a startling look into a future when women will be able to choose not only the number and timing but also some of the characteristics of their children. Genetic screening, repair of embryos, cloning, sex selection, and egg freezing are some of the technologies that will become familiar early in the new millennium. Designing Babies explores these and other issues intelligently, with an open-minded and nonprejudicial approach toward the dangers and benefits that such scientific advances might bring.

For better or worse, the human race has co-opted science and technology in its powerful drive to reproduce. Separating facts from fallacies, Designing Babies makes a productive contribution to the debate about one of the most contentious and important issues of our day.

Roger Gosden began his research career in Cambridge, England, under the test-tube baby pioneer Robert Edwards. In 1976, he moved to the University of Edinburgh Medical School where he lectured in physiology for 18 years. He has worked at the Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, the Andrus Gerontology Center in Los Angeles, and is currently Professor of Reproductive Biology at the University of Leeds. He is the author of Cheating Time: Science, Sex, and Aging.