Perilous Knowledge: The Human Genome Project and its Implications

by TomWilkie (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $5.52

  Around the globe researchers are analysing the genetic message encoded in human DNA. This book considers the benefits of the project, and its darker consequences, as the frontiers of scientific knowledge are pushed further and further.

• Used

  Hardcover
  1993

  $3.35

  The human genome project is an attempt to map and analyze every single human gene, one of the most ambitious scientific projects undertaken since the flight to the moon. Costing more than #2 billion, the project has huge potential benefits, including the eradication of genetic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. But it also raises profound ethical and practical questions such as what does it mean to regard human life as no more than the biological expression of a computer programme? Drawing on interviews with key figures worldwide, this book describes the human genome project and the increasing controversy it is causing, as scientists argue over the direction of research and governments debate their country's level of funding.