Genetic engineering as a field emerged with the dawn of
molecular biology when James Watson and Francis Crick deciphered the three
dimensional structure of DNA. Several decades have passed since then, and today
whole genome sequences of several different organisms across kindgoms have been
deciphered giving rise to a wealth of information that is only a computer
terminal away.
The book, while having only five chapters, covers a
wide range of topics in genetic engineering of microorganisms, plants and
animals. Specifically, it covers both the natural and social sciences. In the
natural sciences topics ranging from the genetic engineering of microorganisms
to produce antibiotics, the gene targeting and transformation in plants, the
generation of marker-free plants in response to biosafety concerns, as well as
the generation of transgenic animals and those derived through cloning are
covered. In the social sciences, the issue of ethics in biotechnology and the
role of the media in reporting around the cloned sheep, Dolly are discussed.
Interestingly the application of genetic engineering to plants and animals
generates controversy compared to the same application in microorganisms.
Perhaps some of that controversy is due to the actual use of the end product,
in the case of plants, food, and in the case of animals, even more so, as the
reality of cloning animals conjures up fears that humans are about to be cloned
even though cloning is not a transgenic process. This then brings on the whole
issue of ethics in science, given the technological leaps and bounds of genetic
engineering within the last decade compared to many before that. The book also
highlights the role of the media in perpetrating the fear associated with the
unknown. Clearly the role of the media should be one of responsible reporting
with the goal of educating the public and not that of engendering fear.
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