PREVIEW OF
ENGINEERING GENESIS
The SRT Study on the Ethics of Genetic Engineering
in Animals, Plants and Micro-organisms
Available now in major bookshops
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ENGINEERING GENESIS
The Society, Religion and Technology Project's new book "Engineering Genesis" is the culmination of a 5 year expert study on the ethical and social issues being raised by current developments in genetic engineering and cloning, in animals, plants and micro-organisms. Edited by SRT's Director Dr Donald Bruce and his wife Ann, it is published by the leading UK environmental publisher Earthscan. Aimed at both secular and Christian markets, SRT this is proving to be a landmark study, both informed and balanced, on what has become one of the most controversial topics at turn of the Millennium.
After the first print run sold out in September, a new and updated printing came out on 15 November 1999. Although not a completely new edition, this contains some substantial updating reflect the dramatic changes of the past few months on the issues of GM food, risk and public responses to genetic engineering.
What to Find on these Preview Pages
The Issues
The Authors
The Members of the Working Group
What the Reviewers are Saying
Media and Press Releases
Where to Buy Engineering Genesis
Supporting Events
Engineering Genesis - Summary of our Findings
Engineering Genesis - Contents Page and Chapter Summaries
Case Studies
Main Chapters
Engineering Genesis - Excerpts from the Introduction
Genetic Engineering Has Arrived
Biotechnology - Boom or Bust?
How We Approached the Study
More about the Working Group Study
Further Information
Links to Other SRT Project Pages
How are we to judge issues like cloning, genetically altered foodstuffs or transplanting pigs' hearts into humans? The book seeks to make a reliable and balanced assessment, expressed in understandable terms. We explain genetic engineering and some of its uses and dilemmas, using a set of short case studies, each chosen to draw out the ethical issues. We then discuss these issues in depth:
- Basic ethical and theological questions - Are we playing God with nature - how far may we intervene? Should we be swapping genes between species? Is genetic technology the right way to relate to our fellow creatures and the environment?
- Animal welfare and use. Can cloning, pig heart transplants or mice genetically engineered to develop cancer be justified against the hoped for human benefits?
- Should we eat genetically modifed food? Is labelling it enough to protect those who object? Do we know enough to grow engineered crops without undue risks?
- Should we have allowed genetically engineered animals to be patented?
- Is it really true that we need genetic engineering to feed the world, does it suit the Third World? Should the future of agriculture be more, or less, technology?
- What drives and controls these developments? Who wins; who loses? How can genetics be made more accountable to the public?
How does society handle risks?
We give various viewpoints on each issue, Christian and secular, drawing our ideas together in a set of final reflections, leaving readers to form their own views.
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THE AUTHORS
The book is not a collection of essays but rather a distillation of a five year working group study by 10 eminent leading specialists in the various fields relating to the study, in both science and humanities. The Members of the Working Group are the collective authorship, with two of the members gradually editing the numerous pieces of written work and our recorded discussions into a whole, to reflect both our areas of consensus and our points of difference.
The Editors are the working group's chairman Dr Donald Bruce, who is also Director of the SRT Project, and his wife Ann Bruce, a former animal breeding specialist who is the group's researcher and administrator.
Photo : David Jeffrey
THE MEMBERS OF THE WORKING GROUP
The members of the group and their areas of relevant expertise
- Dr Mike Appleby, Institute for Ecology and Resource Management, Edinburgh University
- Research and development in farm animal behaviour.
- Prof. David Atkinson, Deputy Principal, Scottish Agricultural College, Edinburgh
- Particular interests in environmental technology and genetic engineering.
- Mrs Ann Bruce (secretary)
- Animal breeding industry.
- Dr Donald Bruce (chairman), Director of the Society, Religion and Technology Project
- Ethics of technology; risk; patenting; attitudes in the churches.
- Prof. John Eldridge, Professor of Sociology, Glasgow University
- Industrial and media sociology; role of the scientist; expert information and the media.
- Rev. Dr Michael Northcott, Christian Ethics and Practical Theology, Edinburgh University
- Theological and environmental ethics.
- Prof. Joyce Tait, Visiting Professor, Research Centre for Social Sciences, Edinburgh University
- Technology management; risk; public perceptions.
- Prof. Ian Wilmut, Roslin Institutue, Edinburgh
- Mammalian embryology, cloning, animal genetics
- Prof. Michael Wilson, Head of Virology, Scottish Crop Breeding Institute, Invergowrie
- Plant genetics and virology.
- Prof. Peter Wilson, Scientific director of the Edinburgh Centre for Rural Research
- Emeritus Professor of Agriculture, Edinburgh University
- General Secretary of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
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WHAT THE REVIEWERS ARE SAYING
"At last a balanced and rational approach to genetic engineering. The pros and cons are clearly explained ... will be easily understood by the layman."
Professor Sir Ghillean Prance, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
"Engineering Genesis is a major contribution to the public debate on genetic engineering ... it is lucid, well argued and never shirks controversy."
Dr David Shapiro, Nuffield Council on Bioethics, former Executive Secretary
"The genetic revolution requires the best of science and theology. This book provides a taste of both."
Dr David Cook, writer, lecturer and broadcaster on Christian ethics.
"An outstanding guide for the morally and scientifically perplexed in this new age of genetics. No atheist has written anything half as good on genetic engineering as this report by the Church of Scotland."
Tom Wilkie, Head of Biomedical Ethics, The Wellcome Trust, former science editor of The Independent newspaper.
Engineering Genesis is available from major bookshops and many Christian booksellers in Scotland and across the UK, at 14.95 UK Pounds paperback, 40.00 hardback, or from the SRT Project directly (with a small charge for postage and packing) .
Click here for details of how To Order Copies of Engineering Genesis
SUPPORTING EVENTS
The launcing of the book was accompanied by a variety of events, including a day conference on September 26 1998 at the School of Agriculture building of the Edinburgh University science campus, lectures at the Edinburgh University Chaplaincy, and a two term lecture series at the
Centre for Human Ecology in Edinburgh.
Since then it has been the subject of a Day Conference at the Edinburgh Science Festival on 17 April 1999, and two conferences at St George's House Windsor - 10-12 February 1999 for the
Society of Ordained Scientists, and a consultation in November 1999 where key figures in Government, regulation, industry, research and opinion forming were invited to discuss the underlying reasons for the present crisis over GM issues and to debate where to go from here.
Where to Buy Engineering Genesis
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If you want to contact us or obtain further information or receive our latest Newsletter,
email us at :
mailto:srtp@srtp.org.uk
or send an ordinary letter or fax to :
Dr.Donald M.Bruce,
Society, Religion and Technology Project,
, 121 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4YN, Scotland.
tel. +44 (0)131-240 2250, fax +44 (0)131-240 2239,
email address : srtp@srtp.org.uk
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