| Description: |
|
Product Description
The birth of Dolly -- the world's first clone -- placed in our hands the secret of creation. Few discoveries have so altered our notion of what it means to be human, or presented such a Gordian knot of ethical, spiritual, and scientific questions. Noted science journalist Gina Kolata broke the news nationally in The New York Times and was the first reporter to speak with Dr. Ian Wilmut, the embryologist who cloned Dolly. Now Kolata reveals the story behind Dolly, interweaving the social and cultural tales of our fear and fascination with cloning, reaching back nearly a century, with the riveting scientific accountof how a clone came to be and the mind-boggling questions Dolly presents for our future.Clone is a compelling blend of scientific suspense, dreams dashed, and frauds exposed, with provocative philosophical questions and an astute assessment of why Dolly's birth was only possible now. Like The Making of the Atomic Bomb, Lucy, and Chaos, this book gives us a window on history in the making, and an understanding of its profound effect on our lives.
Amazon.com Review
In February 1997 a group of Scottish livestock scientists announced that they had cloned a lamb using a cell from an adult sheep. "When the time comes to write the history of our age, this quiet birth, the creation of this little lamb, will stand out," says award-winning science writer Gina Kolata. In Clone, she gives a clear account of the technical background to Dolly's birth, but what makes the book really shine is her coverage of the history and social conflicts of cloning. She weaves stories of fraud, scandal, irreproducible results, and pig-headed determination into a solid framework of philosophy, science, and ethics.
|
