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Title: Beyond Therapy: Biotechnology and the Pursuit of Happiness a Report by the President's Council on Bioethics by Leon R., Ph.D. Kass ISBN: 0-06-073490-6 Publisher: ReganBooks Pub. Date: 01 December, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95

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Average Customer Rating: 3.67 (3 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: A Fundamentalist Christian's View of Biotechnology
Comment: This book is just Leon Klass's latest treatise on all the possible (but not necessarily probable) negative aspects of biological research and progress.

Leon Klass was appointed by George W. Bush as his "Bioethics" committee board chairman - and Leon quickly filled the board with other right-wing christian fundamentalists. To assuage concerns that the board was just a group designed to rubber stamp Bush's foregone conservative opinions he added Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn to the board - a well known scientist out of UC Berkeley.

When it became clear that Dr. Blackburn was too vociferous in her defense of the many benefits to humanity of gene therapy, genetic engineering, stem cell research, etc. - Leon Klass fired her from the board.

Leon Klass is well known for his long history of anti-biotechnology diatribes - including one in which he extols the virtues of a short life (saying that people who want a longer, healthier life are greedy and devaluing the experience of life).

If you choose to read this book - be sure to balance the opinions of this extreme Right fundamentalist - with some modern researchers and ethicists - such as Gregory Stock (UCLA), and John Brockman (see the book The Next Fifty Years : Science in the First Half of the Twenty-first Century).

If you care about helping anyone with Cancer, Alzheimers, Diabetes - or any other serious disease that could potentially be helped by stem cell treatments - you probably won't want to adopt the views of Leon Klass. If Leon Klass' opinions continue to be put into law (as was the Stem Cell ban) progress will slow to a crawl in the US biotech industry and many people will die early deaths due to delayed treatments.

Rating: 5
Summary: The essential reader on bioethics
Comment: Comprehensive bodyof work detailing the current debates in biotech

Rating: 5
Summary: Will be standard reference for the field
Comment: This is a through and comprehensive study of the issues, more than 300 pages with ample references. The report is organized into sections covering the following topics: Biotechnology and the pursuit of happiness; Better children; Superior performance; Ageless bodies; Happy souls; General reflections. The text was carefully prepared, various viewpoints on each issue are brought in, and the writing is very clear.

The membership of the Council that prepared this report is outstanding. It is one of the best ever assembled to study a scientific policy issue. Thirteen of the seventeen members hold named professorships at leading universities. Their expertise covers the full range of relevant fields, from basic biology through clinical medicine to philosophy, religion and law.

The volume is very timely, given widespread concern over the reappearance of eugenics in recent years. All who are interested in the impact of biotechnology on human life should read this volume.

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