Exploding the Gene Myth: How Genetic Information is Producd and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators, and Law Enforcers
Language: English
Published by Beacon Press, Boston, 1993
- First Edition
- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: Theoria Books, Andover, MA, U.S.A.Theoria Books
AbeBooks seller since June 12, 2016
Condition: Used - As new
US$ 24.00
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
206 pp. xv. '1' in number line. Following the Preface, "Why This Book", Contents divided into 12 Chapters:(1) OF GENES AND PEOPLE: The Role of Genetics in Our Lives; Genes for Deafness, Genes for Being Raped; A Word about Scientists; Heredity and environment; What Are Genes?; (2) GENETIC LABELING AND THE OLD EUGENICS: The Birth of Eugenics; Genetic Labeling; Involuntary Sterilization; Eugenic Immigration Policies; (3) THE NEW EUGENICS: TESTING, SCREENING, AND CHOICE: Overt and Subtle Eugenics; Parenting, Disabilities, and Selective Abortion; Genetic Screening; Fallacies of Genetic Prediction; (4) A BRIEF ;LOOK AT GENETICS: Heredity and Genes; The Beginning: Gregor Mendel, 'Traits' and 'Factors'; From Mendel to the Double Helix; Genes and Proteins; How Chromosomes and Genes Are Duplicated; X and Y: The Sex Chromosomes; Chromosomes and Cell Division; From DNA to RNA to Proteins; How Genes Function; Sequencing the Human Genome; RFLPs: Linking DNA Patterns with Traits; (5) GENES IN CONTEXT: Definitions of Health and Disease; Individualization of Health and Illness; Genes as Blueprints; Geneticization; Diagnostic Labeling; (6) 'INHERITED TENDENCIES' : CHRONIC CONDITIONS: Some Underlying Assumptions; Conditions That Run in Families; Diabetes; High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease and Strokes; Cancer [Oncogenes and Anti-Oncogenes; Cancer Prevention and Cancer Screening; Breast Cancer; Cancer Prevention versus Cancer Therapy]; (7) 'INHERITED TENDENCIES': BEHAVIORS: Which Behaviors?; Homosexuality; Alcoholism; Problems of Linking Genes to Behavior; Pitfalls of Behavioral Research: The XYY Fallacy; (8) MANIPULATING OUR GENES: Conventional Treatments for Inherited Conditions; Modifying DNA: Somatic Cell Manipulations; 'Germ-Line Gene Therapy': Changing Future Generations; (9) GENES FOR SALE: Funds for Research, Profits for Biotechnology; Commercialization and Conflicts of Interest; Owning the Genome; What to Do?; (10) GENETIC DISCRIMINATION: EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND INSURANCE: Genetic Testing and the Schools; Genetic Discrimination in the Workplace; Measure to Counter Employment-Related Discrimination; Genetic Discrimination in Insurance (11) DNA-BASED IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS, PRIVACY, AND CIVIL LIBERTIES: DNA and the Criminal Justice System; Scientific Problems with DNA Profiles; Genetic Privacy and Civil Liberties; Employment- and Health-Related Issues; Controlling Genetic Information; (12) IN CONCLUSION . . . ; APPENDIX: MITOCHONDRIAL DNA: Mitochondria and Their DNA; Inheritance of Mitochondrial DNA; Notes, pp. 169-182; Glossary, pp. 183-192; Books and Other Resources, pp. 193-198; Index, pp. 199-206. Marbled cream boards with white spine and brilliant gilt letters. Shiny dustwrapper not price-clipped ($24.00) with teal front cover and large cream Title lettering in column on left side of top half front cover, adjacent to and illustration of a human figure surrounded by a disarray of other human figures at middle right front cover; Author names in smaller cream lettering across bottom front cover.Hint of ruffling at spine ends, else unqualifiedly As New: Tight binding; sharp corners (NO bumps or curls); NO rubbing wear; NO previous owner names; NO remainder marks; Clean text. Laid in (NO offsetting): Article from Boston Globe (May 16, 1990) by Madeline Drexler, "Ruth Hubbard: an outsider on the inside: A Harvard biologist challenges the way science looks at the world.".…
Seller Inventory # 002972
- Title
- Exploding the Gene Myth: How Genetic Information is Producd and Manipulated by Scientists, Physicians, Employers, Insurance Companies, Educators, and Law Enforcers
- Author
- Hubbard, Ruth and Elijah Wald
- Publisher
- Beacon Press, Boston
- Publication year
- 1993
- Condition
- As New
- Dust jacket
- As New
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 0807004189
- ISBN 13
- 9780807004180
- Edition
- 1st Edition
- Dimensions
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" tall
Exploding the Gene Myth explains in clear, accessible language how genes really work. Ruth Hubbard and Elijah Wald then evaluate the tremendous impact of genetic information on how we are treated by doctors and health insurance companies, by schools, by the criminal justice system, and by potential employers.
The authors are especially critical of the multi-billion-dollar Human Genome Initiative, the huge research project to map every gene on the DNA of a prototypical human being. Hubbard and Wald deflate the grandiose promises of therapeutic benefits that are supposed to emerge from the project. They point instead to the real threats to privacy and civil liberties already resulting from the unregulated increase in genetic predictions.
At a time when the biosciences are undergoing a revolution, the enthusiasm of scientists and the media about new genetic information and technologies needs to be tempered with realism. Hubbard and Wald argue that all citizens, not just scientists, should be able to participate in making the necessary decisions about how to regulate information, protect privacy, and avoid discrimination. Exploding the Gene Myth is a forceful plea for a society that would invest in safe, healthful living and working conditions for everyone rather than the search for ideal or improved genes.
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Reviews
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Harvard biologist and feminist Hubbard and her son (as well as her Nobel laureate husband, George Wald) have long championed the antibiotechnology cause, raising the specter of genetic determinism, eugenics, and social control (read ``fascism'') that they see as imminent in genetics research. Their point of view is that of old-fashioned liberals, winning praise from the Richard Lewontins, Barry Commoners, Ralph Naders, and other defenders of the common man (and woman) and the natural environment against government bureaucrats, scientific reductionists, and others viewed as profiteers or manipulators and exploiters of humankind. In so doing, the authors serve a corrective function, offering the kind of countervailing sensibility that's so important in a democratic society. But, here, they go too far in their zeal, discounting the value of much genetics research and of the human genome project in particular. Certainly, we need safeguards regarding the collection and use of genetic data to prevent discrimination and abuses in education, employment, and insurance, as well as to prevent gene testing for such arbitrary purposes as sex selection and so on. But to deny the importance of genetic research in finding clues to development and aging, plus the causes and cures of disease, is to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Interestingly, in contrast to Andrew Kimbrell in The Human Body Shop (reviewed below), Hubbard and Wald disavow claims that genes have been (or will be) discovered for intelligence, homosexuality, alcoholism, etc.; meanwhile, Kimbrell acts as though such putative genes will determine how we select offspring in the future. The moral of the story is that the pendulum swings both ways, but the truth lies somewhere in the middle. (Seven illustrations) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Theoria Books
Andover, MA, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since June 12, 2016
Shipping rates within U.S.A.
| Item | 5 to 14 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
|---|---|---|
| First item | US$ 5.50 | US$ 12.90 |
Payment methods
Store description
Retired academic's reference library with specialization in philosophy, religion, science, and mathematics--all scholarly subject areas; Pre-Socratics to contemporary; biographies; some series collections. General stock also, including fiction, poetry, literary criticism, mysteries, some foreign language, children's, history, sociology, psychology, education. Some signed copies.
Specialty
Scholarly and general stockSeller's business information
Theoria Books
MA, U.S.A.
Terms of sale
We abide by the current policies set by Abebooks. Please submit all orders through Abebooks.com
Shipping terms
All domestic orders will be sent by USPS Media Mail, unless some other mode of shipping is requested or required and accepted in advance of shipping. International orders will be sent by USPS International Flat-Rate Priority envelope or box, unless the current weight and size restrictions cannot be met [e.g.: (1) the item is too large to fit the International Flat-Rate envelope or box or (2) the item weighs over 4 lbs. or (3) insurance is requested or required (e.g., the book is worth $40.00 or more)--in each such case, the item will be sent, only if the given destination country allows for it, by signing for the item.] All books sent by USPS Flat-Rate unpadded envelope (or padded envelope, moreover) will be wrapped in paper and packed between cardboard sheets larger than the book or with cardboard affixed at the corners, in order to prevent damage to the book during shipment. Books sent in boxes will also be wrapped in paper and suitably packed to avoid movement in box. The goal here is to ship essentially at cost, rather than to reap additional profit beyond the cost of shipping, thus keeping the customer's cost for shipping as low as possible.