A brave, moral argument for cloning and its power to fight disease. A timely investigation into the ethics, history, and potential of human cloning from Professor Ian Wilmut, who shocked scientists, ethicists, and the public in 1997 when his team unveiled Dolly―that very special sheep who was cloned from a mammary cell. With award-winning science journalist Roger Highfield, Wilmut explains how Dolly launched a medical revolution in which cloning is now used to make stem cells that promise effective treatments for many major illnesses. Dolly's birth also unleashed an avalanche of speculation about the eventuality of cloning babies, which Wilmut strongly opposes. However, he does believe that scientists should one day be allowed to combine the cloning of human embryos with genetic modification to free families from serious hereditary disease. In effect, he is proposing the creation of genetically altered humans. 20 illustrations
Roger Ronald Highfield (born 1958 in Griffithstown, Wales) is an author, science journalist, broadcaster and director of external affairs at the Science Museum Group.
When i got this book i was expecting what it said,the uses and misuses of human cloning.What i got was less the uses and missuses of cloning and more the life and times of ian wilmut.Well the book eventually did get to its stated goal for the first 100 or so pages it was just his biography. However once i did get to this part of the book it was interseting i was still bored out of my mind until that point.
The book is written by a scientist, Ian Wilmut, who led a group that created that famous sheep, Dolly. Roger Highfield is a journalist and a science editor of the Daily Telegraph, so he helped the scientist to make the book readable. The book tells how the Dolly was cloned and discusses the technical and ethical problems of today genetics engineering and cloning of mammals, human embryos and humans. It is addressed to a general audience and no special education is required.
I learned from this book that unfortunately, even if I had all the money and power in the world, I would currently be unable to make another baby with a woman without risking it being fucked up in many ways for many reasons.
Technically possible through chimera nuclear transfer, but realistically impractical.
I'm still holding out hope for stem cell sperm though.