About the Book

Today we appear to be on the threshold of the Age of Biotechnology. Genetic engineering, animal cloning and new reproductive technologies are being promoted as the keys to a brighter future. Genetic engineers promise a more productive agriculture, wondrous medical miracles and solutions to our most pressing environmental problems.

But growing numbers of farmers, scientists and concerned citizens disagree. There is growing evidence that genetically engineered foods are hazardous to our health and the environment. Farmers all over the world encounter an increasingly monopolized seed and agrichemical industry. Animal cloning and human genetic engineering raise troubling ethical questions. And genes from plants, animals and humans have become objects to bought, sold and patented by private interests. A growing worldwide resistance to genetic engineering and other new biotechnologies has brought these issues to the forefront of public controversy in many countries.

This book offers the first comprehensive examination of the hidden hazards of the new genetic technologies, and the emergence of worldwide resistance. Twenty-six internationally respected critics offer their analysis of the issues, their social and ethical implications, and what people are doing in response. Redesigning Life? is essential reading for everyone who seeks to understand the full story that lies behind today‘s headlines.

About the Author

Edited by Brian Tokar

Contents

Introduction: Challenging Biotechnology - Brian Tokar
Part 1 - Our Health, Our Food and the Environment
1. From Golden Rice to Terminator Technology - Martha L. Crouch
2. Genetically Engineered ‘Vitamin A Rice‘: - Vandana Shiva
3. Cloning Profits: The Revolution in Agricultural Biotechnology - Sonja Schmitz
4. Genetically Engineered Foods: A Minefield of Safety Hazards - Jennifer Ferrara and Michael K. Dorsey
5. Safety First: Controlling the Risks of Biotechnology - Beth Burrows
6. Ecological Consequences of Genetic Engineering - Ricarda Steinbrecher
7. Biotechnology to the Rescue? - Jack Kloppenburg Jr. and Beth Burrows
8. Engineered Trees: From Native Forest to Frankenforest - Orin Langelle
Part 2 - Medical Genetics, Science, and Human Rights
9. The Case Against Designer Babies- Marcy Darnovsky
10. Cancer as (Not) a Genetic Disease - Barbara Katz Rothman
11. If Cloning is the Answer, What was the Question? - Sarah Sexton
12. Eugenic Tendencies in Modern Genetics - David King
13. If Pigs Could Fly, They Would: The Problems of Xenotransplantation - Alix Fano
14. Reproductive Technology: Welcome to the Brave New World - Zoë C. Meleo-Erwin
15. Is Violence in Your Genes? - Mitchel Cohen
Part 3 - Patents, Corporate Power and the Theft of Knowledge
16. Gene Giants: Understanding the Life Industry - Hope Shand
17. Patents, Ethics and Spin - Beth Burrows
18. Biotechnology and Indigenous Peoples - Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
19. Shams, Shamans and the Commercialization of Biodiversity - Michael K. Dorsey
20. Biopiracy: The Theft of Biological Knowledge and Resources - Vandana Shiva
21. Exclusive Rights, Enclosure and the Patenting of Life - Kimberly Wilson
22. Paving the Way for Biotechnology: Federal Regulations and Industry P.R. - Jennifer Ferrara
23. Biotechnology and the New World Order - Mitchel Cohen
Part 4 - The Worldwide Resistence to Genetic Engineering
24. Resisting the Engineering of Life - Brian Tokar
25. Princes, Aliens, Superheroes and Snowballs - Jim Thomas
26. Seed Satyagraha: A Movement for Farmers‘ Rights and Freedoms in a World of Intellectual Property Rights, Globalized Agriculture and Biotechnology - Vandana Shiva
27. Europe: Hostile Lands for GMOs: Why do Europeans Reject Genetic Engineering More Fiercely than Americans? - Thomas Schweiger
28. No Patents on Life - Steve Emmott
29. No to Bovine Growth Hormone - Lucy Sharratt
30. Cooperatives: A Source of Community Strength - Robin Seydel
31. McDonalds, MTV, and Monsanto - Chaia Heller
Bibliography
Index

Commendations

"The hazards of genetic engineering are among the most critical threats facing us. Knowledge is power. This book gives us power." - Frances Moore Lappe, author, Diet for A Small Planet

"Biotechnology is truly revolutionary. But it is far from a precise science and the alliance of government, industry and universities to profit from genetic engineering has resulted in extravagant claims of benefits that are highly speculative. This book provides a welcome perspective that is missing from all the biotechnology hype. For anyone concerned about the real implications and potential hazards of gene manipulation, it is an excellent starting point." - David Suzuki

"This book explains why and how genetic engineering is adversely affecting our food, health, environment and human rights. It also shows what people are doing to counter the technology and the industry. It must be read by the public everywhere and by policymakers, especially in developing countries." - Martin Khor, Director, Third World Network

"In this wide-ranging collection, scientists and activists discuss the pressing issues growing out of the wanton commercialization of the life sciences. The authors illustrate the dangers inherent in the unfettered manipulation of plant, animal and human biology for health and societal wellbeing. They also document the growing worldwide resistance to attempts to engineer life in all its forms. An excellent guide to the brave new world of genetic engineering." - Ruth Hubbard, Professor Emerita of Biology at Harvard University and Board Member of the Council for Responsible Genetics

"The biotechnology industry has taken us beyond natural evolution into the unknown terrain of a never-to-be-natural-again world. We know nothing of the long-term biological, ecological, economic, public health and animal welfare impacts of this new technology. This book, with its excellent and wide-ranging coverage of this complex subject, will help us awaken to the costs and potentially harmful, even catastrophic, consequences." - Dr. Michael W. Fox, Senior Scholar, Bioethics, The Humane Society of the United States, Washington, DC

"We are involved in a global war called genetic engineering. Most of us are totally unprepared to fight this war. Reading Redesigning Life is mandatory if you want you and your offspring to enjoy life as we have known it." - Howard F. Lyman, President, EarthSave International, and author, Mad Cowboy: Plain Truth From the Cattle Rancher Who Won‘t Eat Meat

"A cutting edge critique of today‘s headlong rush toward genetic engineering and the ways in which a few corporate "gene giants" are dominating global food supplies and pirating the planet‘s biodiversity, the human genome and the keys to life itself." - Hazel Henderson, author, Beyond Globalization and Building A Win-Win World

"The book is a superb collection of essays chronicling the
development of biotechnologynd the social reaction it has caused. It challenges the reader with intriguing data, anecdotes, and examples that paint an atmosphere of activism and social conscience. . . It has a place in the seasoned expert‘s library as a sourcebook of critiques, as well as anyone wishing toecome informed about these contemporary issues" - Gene Watch (Vol. 14, No. 5)