The Family in the Age of Biotechnology

The Family in the Age of Biotechnology PDF Author: Carole Ulanowsky
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 180

Book Description
The areas covered in this book are connected to a number of debates, but focus in particular on family relationships in the context of the new reproductive technologies. These include the question of desirable patterns of nature and how these might be met within an individualistic society.

European Kinship in the Age of Biotechnology

European Kinship in the Age of Biotechnology PDF Author: Jeanette Edwards
Publisher: Berghahn Books
ISBN: 9781845455736
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 236

Book Description
Interest in the study of kinship, a key area of anthropological enquiry, has recently reemerged. Dubbed 'the new kinship', this interest was stimulated by the 'new genetics' and revived interest in kinship and family patterns. This volume investigates the impact of biotechnology on contemporary understandings of kinship, of family and 'belonging' in a variety of European settings and reveals similarities and differences in how kinship is conceived. What constitutes kinship for different publics? How significant are biogenetic links? What does family resemblance tell us? Why is genetically modified food an issue? Are 'genes' and 'blood' interchangeable? It has been argued that the recent prominence of genetic science and genetic technologies has resulted in a 'geneticization' of social life; the ethnographic examples presented here do show shifts occurring in notions of 'nature' and of what is 'natural'. But, they also illustrate the complexity of contemporary kinship thinking in Europe and the continued interconnectedness of biological and sociological understandings of relatedness and the relationship between nature and nurture.

Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology

Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology PDF Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309465184
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 189

Book Description
Scientific advances over the past several decades have accelerated the ability to engineer existing organisms and to potentially create novel ones not found in nature. Synthetic biology, which collectively refers to concepts, approaches, and tools that enable the modification or creation of biological organisms, is being pursued overwhelmingly for beneficial purposes ranging from reducing the burden of disease to improving agricultural yields to remediating pollution. Although the contributions synthetic biology can make in these and other areas hold great promise, it is also possible to imagine malicious uses that could threaten U.S. citizens and military personnel. Making informed decisions about how to address such concerns requires a realistic assessment of the capabilities that could be misused. Biodefense in the Age of Synthetic Biology explores and envisions potential misuses of synthetic biology. This report develops a framework to guide an assessment of the security concerns related to advances in synthetic biology, assesses the levels of concern warranted for such advances, and identifies options that could help mitigate those concerns.

Body Bazaar

Body Bazaar PDF Author: Lori B. Andrews
Publisher: Crown
ISBN:
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 264

Book Description
This disturbing and eye-opening book explores the growing trade in human DNA, blood, tissues, bones, embryos, and other commodities of the burgeoning new biotechnology market.

Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age

Rights and Liberties in the Biotech Age PDF Author: Sheldon Krimsky
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742543416
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 254

Book Description
The authors in this book, with their carefully reasoned calls for a genetic bill of rights, seem to me to be making a powerful conservative argument, and proposing amendments far more sensible, human, and rational than the zealotry promoted by men like More. They are assuming there is great value in human beings as we have known them, in plants and food crops as we have slowly and within clear boundaries develop them over millennia, in the relationship between human being and the natural world.

The Biotech Century

The Biotech Century PDF Author: Jeremy Rifkin
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0874779537
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 289

Book Description
In this seminal book, Jeremy Rifkin explores the epic marriage between computer technology and genetic engineering, and the historic transition into the Age of Biotechnology. Already, Rifkin explains, our economy is undergoing a massive shift away from the Industrial Age and into an era in which giant life-science corporations are fashioning a bioindustrial world.Humanity is on the brink of wielding greater control over the shape of life--how we are born; how our food supply is created; the traits our children may have--than has ever been imagined. But with each step into this new era, we must ask ourselves: At what cost?

Sexuality and Procreation in the Age of Biotechnology

Sexuality and Procreation in the Age of Biotechnology PDF Author: Paola Marion
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000404706
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 173

Book Description
Through the lens of psychoanalytic thought about sexuality, the book examines changes in the area of procreation and generation, the disjunction between sexuality and procreation introduced by biotechnology and some new methods of reproduction, and their impact on the essential moments of existence (birth, illness, death) and the most intimate aspects of personal identity (sexuality, procreation, body). At the centre of this book is the thesis that the disjunction between sexuality and procreation brought about by biotechnology represents a new scenario and introduces elements of discontinuity. What kind of effects on individuals will the modifications introduced by biotechnologies in the field of procreation have? How can these changes affect even the most profound aspects of personal identity, including body and sexuality? How might they interfere with the sphere of desire? The book investigates the new scenarios and the consequences which are emerging, such as an alteration of personal boundaries, both in spatial and temporal terms, which is reflected in our way of thinking about ourselves and our relationships and the assertion of an unconscious fantasy that the limits imposed by sexuality and death can be surpassed. Offering a psychoanalytic reading of changes introduced in this field, this book will appeal to training and practising psychoanalysts, as well as philosophers, psychologists and gynaecologists.

Kinship, Law and the Unexpected

Kinship, Law and the Unexpected PDF Author: Marilyn Strathern
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521849920
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 248

Book Description
Examines Euro-American kinship as the kinship of a specifically knowledge-based society.

Zero to Genetic Engineering Hero

Zero to Genetic Engineering Hero PDF Author: Justin Pahara
Publisher: Maker Media, Inc.
ISBN: 1680457675
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 336

Book Description
Zero to Genetic Engineering Hero is made to provide you with a first glimpse of the inner-workings of a cell. It further focuses on skill-building for genetic engineering and the Biology-as-a-Technology mindset (BAAT). This book is designed and written for hands-on learners who have little knowledge of biology or genetic engineering. This book focuses on the reader mastering the necessary skills of genetic engineering while learning about cells and how they function. The goal of this book is to take you from no prior biology and genetic engineering knowledge toward a basic understanding of how a cell functions, and how they are engineered, all while building the skills needed to do so.

Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism

Biotechnology Research in an Age of Terrorism PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309089778
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 164

Book Description
In recent years much has happened to justify an examination of biological research in light of national security concerns. The destructive application of biotechnology research includes activities such as spreading common pathogens or transforming them into even more lethal forms. Policymakers and the scientific community at large must put forth a vigorous and immediate response to this challenge. This new book by the National Research Council recommends that the government expand existing regulations and rely on self-governance by scientists rather than adopt intrusive new policies. One key recommendation of the report is that the government should not attempt to regulate scientific publishing but should trust scientists and journals to screen their papers for security risks, a task some journals have already taken up. With biological information and tools widely distributed, regulating only U.S. researchers would have little effect. A new International Forum on Biosecurity should encourage the adoption of similar measures around the world. Seven types of risky studies would require approval by the Institutional Biosafety Committees that already oversee recombinant DNA research at some 400 U.S. institutions. These "experiments of concern" include making an infectious agent more lethal and rendering vaccines powerless.