Biotech Juggernaut

This compelling book is a welcome counter to the uncritical, breathless hype that usually accompanies discussions of biotechnology in what remains of our science media. Friends of the Earth Australia Biotech Juggernaut...charts the history of genetic technology, the rise of the modern biotech industry, and the ways that once controversial advancements have been normalised....In the final chapter, the authors leave us with a question: who should be forming our future? ...[T]he warnings about the insidious nature of biotechnological progress are becoming more relevant each day....[W]e are standing at a crossroads in a technological revolution... [W]ill ethical boundaries become even more blurred? From Science for the People The book covers a huge amount of ground...The authors are very good writers, and each chapter sets off a crescendo of critiques very much in the mode of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. With the grit of investigative reporters, they delve deep... Law and Society Review Stevens' and Newman's keen insights are grounded both in a long view - putting biotech and its societal implications in broad historical context - and a close-up one, as they recount their personal encounters with the biotech juggernaut in scientific, legal, policy, and advocacy settings. Their stories demonstrate the sweeping commercialization of the biotechnology enterprise, its routine conflicts of interest, and its tendency to exaggerate benefits and minimize hazards. At a time when headlines blare claims of gene-edited babies, their challenge and their guidance are indispensable. Marcy Darnovsky, Executive Director of the Center for Genetics and Society Tina Stevens and Stuart Newman pull the curtain back on the biotech industrial complex, revealing how its toxic combination of clever marketing and political and financial muscle is perpetuating a branch of science at odds with the public interest. Biotech Juggernaut is also the story of how a small group of dedicated activists is fighting back. By the end of this book, you'll want to join them. Jeremy Gruber, Former President of the Council for Responsible Genetics Stevens and Newman's deep familiarity with the events and issues is on clear display in Biotech Juggernaut. Many books address issues in bioscience, yet fall short of the authors' rich historical and institutional analysis and their especially illuminating case studies. Even fewer are written with such enlightening critical perspective. Elaine Draper, Professor of Sociology, California State University, Los Angeles Biotech Juggernaut is a compelling expose of high stakes discoveries in genetics with unrealistic expectations pushed prematurely into clinical applications. The authors take on the quintessential hubris of scientists who thumb their nose at evolution, taking it upon themselves, in the face of broad public opposition, to redesign the human genome opening the door to eugenics. Sheldon Krimsky, Lenore Stern Professor of Humanities & Social Sciences and Adjunct Professor of Public Health & Community Medicine, Tuft University, and author of GMOs Decoded