A thoughtful, exciting, and mostly accessible account of how genetic manipulation will vastly improve our species. Miracles...
Numerous books explain the genetic revolution now in progress; this one describes where it might lead, and it’s a wild ride.
“Hacking” is the unauthorized intrusion into a computer system, usually to alter its software. Some prefer the term “genetic engineering” to describe the process of changing an organism’s DNA to produce useful products or, more recently, correct defects. Futurist Metzl (Eternal Sonata, 2016, etc.), a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council who has also served in the State Department and the White House, maintains that this process will become so routine that most of us will not understand what’s happening and those that do might disapprove. In short, we will be hacked. One technique does not involve manipulating DNA. In today’s in vitro fertilization, doctors pick among multiple eggs, perhaps test for a few traits, usually absence of some defect, and implant a selection. Advances will enable a mother to produce huge numbers of eggs and doctors to test for countless traits—e.g., resistance to diseases, personality, even longevity—before implanting the best. The obvious next step is to remove defects or insert improved DNA into the genome. The new, Nobel-worthy CRISPR breakthrough makes this not only possible, but practical, and the first applications are emerging from the laboratory. Metzl’s explanation of how CRISPR works is no more comprehensible than those of earlier authors, but its dazzling possibilities are obvious. In future decades, advanced IVF will increasingly compete with sex as the primary way we procreate. Metzl devotes plenty of space to the fierce ethical debate, but the reality is that, given the choice, few parents are likely to choose “natural” reproduction and bear a child guaranteed to be less intelligent, talented, and healthy than otherwise.
A thoughtful, exciting, and mostly accessible account of how genetic manipulation will vastly improve our species. Miracles will happen, if not quite yet. Maybe in a few years....Pub Date: April 23, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4926-7009-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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