Beyond Biotechnology

Beyond Biotechnology
The Barren Promise of Genetic Engineering
by Craig Holdrege and Steve Talbott
the University Press of Kentucky, 2008
262 pages;  paperback: $30;
ISBN: 9780813124841

“Craig Holdrege and Steve Talbott’s analysis of genetic engineering is the smartest, most original, and most compelling I have seen anywhere, in journalism or academia.” —Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma


Contents

Preface
Part I: Genetic Engineering and Agriculture
Sowing Technology
Golden Genes and World Hunger: Let them eat transgenic rice?
Will Biotech Feed the World? The Broader Context
We Label Orange Juice, Why Not Genetically Modified Food?

Part II: Genes and Context
Genes are not Immune to Context: Examples from Bacteria
The Gene: A Needed Revolution
Reflections on the Human Genome Project
Me and My Double Helixes
Logic, DNA, and Poetry

Part III: To Be an Organism
The Cow: Organism or Bioreactor?
The Forbidden Question
What does it Mean to be a Sloth?

Part IV: Science Evolving
The Language of Nature
Delicate Empiricism: Practicing a Goethean Approach to Science
Acknowledgments
References
Index