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The defining political conflict of the twenty-first
century will be the battle over life and death. On one side
stand the partisans of morality, who counsel humanity to
quietly accept our morbid fate and go gently into that good
night. On the other is the party of life, who rage against
the dying of the light and yearn to extend the enjoyment
of healthy life to as many as possible for as long as possible.
This conflict is brewing because rapid progress in biology
and biotechnology will utterly transform human life. What
was once the staff of science fiction may now be written
reach in the not-too-distant future: twenty-to-forty-year
leaps in average life spans, enhanced human bodies, drugs
and therapies to boost memory and speed up mental processing,
and a genetic science that allows parents to ensure that
their children will have stronger immune systems, more athletic
bodies, and cleverer brains. Even the prospect of human
immortality beckons.
Such scenarios excite many people and frighten
or appall many others. Already biotechnology opponents are
organizing political movements aimed at restricting scientific
research, banning the development and commercialization
of various products and technologies, and limiting citizens'
access to the fruits of the biotech revolution.
In this insightful, forward-looking volume,
Ronald Bailey, science writer for Reason magazine,
argues that the coming biotechnology revolution, far from
endangering human dignity, will liberate human beings to
achieve their full potentials by enabling more of us to
live flourishing lives free of disease, disability, and
the threat of early death. Bailey covers the complete range
of the coming biogenetic breakthroughs, from stem cell research
to third world farming, from brain-enhancing neuropharmaceuticals
to designer babies. Against critics of these trends, who
forecast the nightmare society of Aldous Huxley's Brave
New World, Bailey persuasively explains why the health,
safety, and ethical concerns raised by worried citizens
and policymakers are misplaced and outlines a hopeful future
in which humanity will be able to thrive.
Liberation Biology makes a positive,
optimistic, and convincing case that bio-research and the
powerful technologies it engenders should be encouraged
and embraced, not feared and resisted, for it is a revolution
that will improve our lives and the future of our children,
while preserving and enhancing the natural environment.
Ronald Bailey is an award-winning science
journalist, the science correspondent for Reason
magazine, a former television producer, the editor of Earth
Report 2000, and the author of Eco-Scam: The False
Prophets of the Apocalypse. His work has appeared in
The Best Science and Nature Writing 2004, the New
York Times Book Review, the Washington Post, the
Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, National
Review, Forbes, and many other publications.
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