Medicine's Brave New World: Bioengineering and the New Genetics

Examines new scientific discoveries and presents debates on such topics as cloning, reproductive medicine, gene therapy, and transplant medicine.

Gr 8 Up-The exciting first chapter neatly dissects Aldous Huxley's vision of a brave new world in which a totalitarian government controls our lives and replaces it with the exhilarating, and frightening, prospect of a virtually uncontrolled world in which scientific discoveries and decisions will shape human physiology, medicine, and culture. With a sense of wonder, the authors smoothly navigate readers through the thrilling and terrifying processes by which babies can be engineered, spinal cords repaired, human and animal parts can be created and maintained, cloning is commonplace, and genes change the face of medicine. This brave new world, though, is already in reach and, to a fair extent, in fact. Acknowledging that these discoveries and decisions are in the hands of the young people reading the book, the writers treat them with respect and clarity, never becoming pretentious or patronizing. What makes this work stand out is the way that incredibly complex cellular processes are lucidly explained. Through colorful anecdotes and an effective use of white (and blue) space, as well as clear diagrams, readers are given to understand the different kinds and uses of stem cells, genetics, and experimental medicine, and the controversies that surround them. Students with any scientific bent will be enthralled. Sources for information updates are provided.

Mary R. Hofmann, Rivera Middle School, Merced, CA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7-12. The authors present a host of medical breakthroughs and ponder the future of many versions of genetic manipulation to support medical science. Topics include fertility advances, xenotransplants (the transfer of animal organs or cells to humans), stem cell research, cloning, the Human Genome Project, and genetic testing. Hopeful case histories appear throughout the narrative, but there are also some notes of caution as the authors consider some of the many ethical objections to genetic research. The book's best features are its clear explanations of bioengineering processes (notably cloning and stem cell harvesting and use) and its good diagrams and sidebars--among them a "Stem Cell Primer." The black-and-white photos don't always enhance the text, but their quality is acceptable. Source notes, a bibliography, a list of organizations, and a glossary are appended. Anne O'Malley
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