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For centuries, we've toyed with our creature companions, breeding dogs that herd and hunt, housecats that look like tigers, and teacup pigs that fit snugly in our handbags. But what happens when we take animal alteration a step further, engineering a cat that glows green under ultraviolet light or cloning the beloved family Labrador? Science has given us a whole new toolbox for tinkering with life. How are we using it? In Frankenstein's Cat, journalist Emily Anthes takes us from petri dish to pet store as she explores how biotechnology is shaping the future of our furry and feathered friends. As she ventures from bucolic barnyards to a "frozen zoo" where scientists are storing DNA from the planet's most exotic creatures, she discovers how we can use cloning to protect endangered species, craft prosthetics to save injured animals, and employ genetic engineering to supply farms with disease-resistant livestock. Along the way, we meet some of the animals that are ushering in this astonishing age of enhancement, including sensor-wearing seals, cyborg beetles, a bionic bulldog, and the world's first cloned cat. Through her encounters with scientists, conservationists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs, Anthes reveals that while some of our interventions may be trivial (behold: the GloFish), others could improve the lives of many species--including our own. So what does biotechnology really mean for the world's wild things? And what do our brave new beasts tell us about ourselves? With keen insight and her trademark spunk, Anthes highlights both the peril and the promise of our scientific superpowers, taking us on an adventure into a world where our grandest science fiction fantasies are fast becoming reality.… (meer)
JonathanGorman: Both touch similar topics, although the Frankenstein's Cat doesn't limit itself to the "biopunk" movement, it certainly brings in the small companies and the rapidly decreasing costs of biotech and how they'll affect the word. Both of these books offer a glimpse to possible futures that might be closer than we think.
Both books remind me of much of what I've read of the computer world of the 60s to 80s where much of the current potential was realized but not yet achieved. If you like one, you'll likely like the other.… (meer)
I received an ARC of this book at the ScienceOnline conference and immediately dove into it. I barely had time to finish it before my daughter stole the book from me and read it herself.
The book was a fantastically engaging look at the role the biotech revolution is beginning to play with multicellular lifeforms. For me, I couldn't stop thinking about where the early experiments being done now will lead us in the next 10, 20 or 50 years. ( )
A brief but interesting overview of biotechnology as it relates to animals, including genetic engineering and cloning. The prospects range from the altruistic (goats with elevated levels of lysozyme in their milk, aimed at preventing childhood diarrhea) to the dystopian (the theory of breeding animals with lower receptors for pain as a solution to modern farming's faults). Although Anthes looks at the potential negatives of the technology, as well as the ethical dilemmas it poses, the book ultimately comes off as biased due to her including a "vision" of a future where biotech (inc is used freely and positively. It's too easy to be starry eyed about technology that has not yet proven its utility. ( )
For centuries, we've toyed with our creature companions, breeding dogs that herd and hunt, housecats that look like tigers, and teacup pigs that fit snugly in our handbags. But what happens when we take animal alteration a step further, engineering a cat that glows green under ultraviolet light or cloning the beloved family Labrador? Science has given us a whole new toolbox for tinkering with life. How are we using it? In Frankenstein's Cat, journalist Emily Anthes takes us from petri dish to pet store as she explores how biotechnology is shaping the future of our furry and feathered friends. As she ventures from bucolic barnyards to a "frozen zoo" where scientists are storing DNA from the planet's most exotic creatures, she discovers how we can use cloning to protect endangered species, craft prosthetics to save injured animals, and employ genetic engineering to supply farms with disease-resistant livestock. Along the way, we meet some of the animals that are ushering in this astonishing age of enhancement, including sensor-wearing seals, cyborg beetles, a bionic bulldog, and the world's first cloned cat. Through her encounters with scientists, conservationists, ethicists, and entrepreneurs, Anthes reveals that while some of our interventions may be trivial (behold: the GloFish), others could improve the lives of many species--including our own. So what does biotechnology really mean for the world's wild things? And what do our brave new beasts tell us about ourselves? With keen insight and her trademark spunk, Anthes highlights both the peril and the promise of our scientific superpowers, taking us on an adventure into a world where our grandest science fiction fantasies are fast becoming reality.
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The book was a fantastically engaging look at the role the biotech revolution is beginning to play with multicellular lifeforms. For me, I couldn't stop thinking about where the early experiments being done now will lead us in the next 10, 20 or 50 years. (