Product Description

In the past century and a half, the evolution of biology has outstripped that of any of its subjects. Since Darwin’s monumentally influential but rudimentary discoveries, biologists have advanced their knowledge of genetics and genomics with such astonishing speed as to be able not just to understand life processes but also to control them. While expanding our therapeutic and reproductive capabilities, these innovations also serve to obscure the very notion of life and its sanctity. In The Second Tree, award-winning journalist Elaine Dewar seriously reexamines our identity, rights, and responsibilities in a world where scientists can invent new creatures at their whim. She also turns her journalistic eye to the culture of acquisitiveness and secrecy at the highest levels of biological research, revealing the scientific community as one in which greed has replaced intellectual curiosity as the primary motivation of advancement, and in which the race for near-omnipotence is veiled by a supposed desire to do good. This is a powerful and fascinating book about an elite group of researchers who see mortality itself as just another disorder that they intend to cure—and the moral ramifications of their work.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #518119 in Books
• Published on: 2004-12-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Canadian journalist Dewar's book is as much a personal journey as an examination of the science, ethics and politics of cutting-edge biology. It's structured around the author's comprehensive set of interviews with leading figures in stem cell research and reproductive cloning technology; with ethicists attempting to come to grips with the complex moral issues these studies raise; and with Canadian politicians working to regulate scientific research. Although Dewar (Bones: Discovering the First Americans) does a very good job of presenting both the science and the excitementof the field, she falters by giving herself far too great a presence, endlessly discussing her scientific ignorance and explaining how she's come to ask the questions she's posing. The scientific advances are breathtaking (companies breeding cloned farm animals, scientists growing heart muscle from embryonic stem cells) and the ethical questions perplexing (is manipulating a human egg immoral? when is the potential to become human replaced with the actuality of being human?). Dewar insinuates that many of those involved in this research are looking for personal glory. Unfortunately, she neither demonstrates this conclusively nor answers the host of political questions currently swirling around biotechnology. And many American readers may find the extended focus on Canadian politics too narrow.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Customer Reviews

The Business, Science, and Politics of the new Genomics
Elaine Dewar has written a personal tour through the various catchy projects in contemporary biology: stem cells, Human Genome Project, telomeres, cloning, immortality, immorality. And it is personal in the best sense. Like John McPhee's books, Dewars personal quest to make sense of it all is always in the foreground. A former business reporter, she knows her stock options and her IPO's, but she keeps that side of the science in perspective. This book is not a simple prognostication (this is our furture) nor is it a gee-whiz puff piece( look at the cool things we may be able to do) but it covers those topic in what seems to be to be a balanced way. Her prose is swift and lean:I was able to read the book in one sitting, and enjoyed it.

Because of the personal nature of this book , we approach the issues as Dewar did, which means that two pages of discussion about business opportunities may be followed by a three page description of the mechanics of cloning a mouse followed by two pages on the increasingly cutthroat field, followed by a discussion on What It All Means. Readers willing to follow Dewar are in for a treat, since she writes well and thinks well, but some may have difficulties in switching between topics. This book is Not Cloning for Dummies, and those seeking an elementary primer on the science should read another book first. On the other hand, she always comes back to the science and the issues. Relatively little space is given over to history or anecdote, and the lives and loves of the great scientists occupy minimal space. In this she differs from McPhee: this is not Biography as Science.
All in all recommended. And she liked Brenner, my favorite, always a good sign. I found the references to the Canadian situation informative, and I think many readers will agree.

A book for those enthralled with the revelations coming out of today's biological labs!!!
+++++

This fascinating book, by Canadian journalist Elaine Dewar, is her personal journey into the science of what she calls "revelationary biology," the bioethics of trying to come to grips with complex moral issues raised by this new biology, and the politics of working to regulate this new biology.

Revelationary biology is cutting-edge biology. Examples of this biology are stem cell research, reproductive cloning technology, and a "cure" for human mortality.

Where does the title of this book come from? From the "sad tale of Adam and Eve" that "deals with two trees not just one." They "eat the fruit of the first [tree], but it is the second tree that matters, the tree of life...[and today] biologists are definitely swarming all over this [second tree]."

Throughout this book, the reader will come into contact with science, history and historical science, mini-biographies of key people, business and conflicts of interest, patents, the private versus the public spheres of society, bioethics, eugenics and, of course, politics.

Dewar (who admits she's a non-scientific type) frequently injects herself into the main narrative giving her impressions, observations, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Some readers may see this as a negative attribute of this book but I, however, see it as a positive. She also asks many good questions when interviewing the leading figures of revelationary biology from around the world.

This book is a challenging but not an overwhelming read both technically and emotionally. Dewar explains both the scientific concepts well and the associated ethical and moral dilemmas encountered. Anyone who has the impression that modern science is a noble and dull undertaking that's untouched by human feelings and vices will be surprised.

A note on the science in this book. It is not difficult to understand as Dewar defines any new terms as they are encountered. Remember, though, when reading this book, not to get hung up on the scientific and technical points that are made but to mainly consider the overall result. Thus, when we're told the steps done in fusing the embryos of a goat and sheep together, we get essentially a new animal, a "geep."

With respect to the science presented, I think this book would have benefited from a glossary. Instead, the reader is expected to remember a scientific term as it is encountered and defined once in the main narrative.

The author states in the acknowledgements the following:

"Despite all their [that is, those she interviewed] efforts to set me on the path of truth, I have no doubt that many errors still remain. Responsibility for error is, of course, mine."

Finally, because Dewar is Canadian she focuses naturally on Canadian politics near the end of her book. Her political discussion should be seen as a template for the political atmosphere in other countries (such as the United States) as their politicians try to regulate revelationary biology.

In conclusion, the information presented in this book is "terrifying" but "magnificent" as well. For those enthralled with the revelations coming out of the laboratories around the world and onto the front pages of newspapers, this is the book to read!!

(first published 2004; introduction; 18 chapters; loose ends and acknowledgements; main narrative 460 pages; notes; bibliography; index)

+++++

A book for those enthralled by the revelations coming out of today's biological labs!!!
+++++

This fascinating book, by Canadian journalist Elaine Dewar, is her personal journey into the science of what she calls "revelationary biology," the bioethics of trying to come to grips with complex moral issues raised by this new biology, and the politics of working to regulate this new biology.

Revelationary biology is cutting-edge biology. Examples of this biology are stem cell research, reproductive cloning technology and a "cure" for human mortality.

Where does the title of this book come from? From the "sad tale of Adam and Eve" that "deals with two trees not just one." They "eat the fruit of the first [tree], but it is the second tree that matters, the tree of life...[and today] biologists are definitely swarming all over this [second tree]."

Throughout this book, the reader will come into contact with science, history and historical science, mini-biographies of key people, business and conflicts of interest, patents, the private versus the public spheres of business, bioethics, eugenics and, of course, politics.

The author (who admits she's a non-scientific type) frequently injects herself into the main narrative giving her impressions, observations, thoughts, emotions, and feelings. Some readers may see this as a negative attribute of this book but I, however, see it as a positive. She also asks many good questions when interviewing the leading figures of revelationary biology from around the world.

This book is a challenging but not an overwhelming read both technically and emotionally. Dewar explains both the scientific concepts well and the associated ethical and moral dilemmas encountered. Anyone who has the impression that modern science is a noble and dull undertaking that's untouched by human feelings and vices will be surprised.

A note on the science in this book. It is not difficult to understand as Dewar defines any new terms as they are encountered. Remember, though, when reading this book, not to get hung up on the scientific and technical points that are made but to mainly consider the overall result. Thus, when we're told the steps done in fusing the embryos of a goat and sheep together, we get essentially a new animal, a "geep."

With respect to the science presented, I think this book would have benefited from a glossary. Instead, the reader is expected to remember a scientific term as it is encountered and defined once in the main narrative.

The review below this one (dated July 23, 2005) claims that the author says something scientifically wrong and even quotes her. This is not quite true. The author actually is telling the reader what a Nobel Prize winner said in a speech to his colleagues. The actual sentence on page (452) reads as follows:

"There are over one thousand different kinds of cells in the brain, he reminded them, and different kinds of cells appear in the kidneys."

Dewar states in the acknowledgements the following:

"Despite all their [that is, those she interviewed] efforts to set me on the path of truth, I have no doubt that many errors still remain. Responsibility for error is, of course, mine."

Finally, because Dewar is Canadian she focuses naturally on Canadian politics near the end of her book. Her political discussion should be seen as a template for the political atmosphere in other countries (such as the United States) as their politicians try to regulate revelationary biology.

In conclusion, the information presented in this book is "terrifying" but "magnificent" as well. For those enthralled with the revelations coming out of the laboratories around the world and onto the front pages of newspapers, this is the book to read!!

(first published 2004; introduction; 18 chapters; loose ends and acknowledgements; main narrative 460 pages; notes; bibliography; index)

+++++