CONQUEST OF DEATH

by Alvin Silverstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 9, 1979

Just around the corner, according to Professor Silverstein (Biological Science, College of Staten Island), is emortality--""a condition in which 'natural death' is no longer inevitable."" Nor will the long-lived be graybeards: life will be perpetuated at a stage of youthful maturity. ""Emortality is inevitable because the gap that separates us from emortality is finite, but the potential to bridge the gap is infinite."" How account for such optimism? Primarily by wearing the rosiest of glasses. While reviewing the latest technological and biomedical advances (antiviral drugs, immunological cures, heart surgery, etc.) and signifying what's ahead (a mix of realistic genetic engineering and dreamy bionics, cloning, etc.), Silverstein issues statements by fiat: we will cure cancer, we will lick heart disease, we will make drugs to suit mood without side effects. Never mind that no one yet understands the aging process, that an all-out war on cancer has hardly been victorious, that no potent drug has yet been designed without side effects. Silverstein contents himself with inveighing against whatever hamstrings research (the FDA and antitrust laws, to name two) and iterates that all it takes to win the race is the right budget, talent, and technology. Some basic savvy about biomedical research notwithstanding, a radical exercise in irresponsibility.

Pub Date: Nov. 9, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Macmillan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1979

Categories: NONFICTION