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Can Science Make Sense of Life?

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( 21 ratings, 1 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Can Science Make Sense of Life? explores the profound questions arising from scientific advances in genetics and biotechnology. Sheila Jasanoff examines the tension between science's ability to manipulate life at a molecular level and the broader ethical, legal, and cultural frameworks that define human values such as autonomy, privacy, and kinship. The book challenges the assumption that science alone can determine the purpose and meaning of life, highlighting the importance of democratic and humanistic perspectives in shaping biotechnological governance.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2399
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in bioethics, science and society, legal scholars, policymakers, and anyone engaged in debates about the implications of genetic science and biotechnology on human values and social structures.

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"Nearly 70 years after the dawn of the genetic age, biotechnology, scientists proclaim, is poised to rewrite the book of life. Yet, how far can science go in making sense of what "life" means to human beings and societies? This book looks at flash points in law, politics, ethics, and culture to argue that the claims of rewriting life are overblown"--

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Since the discovery of the structure of DNA and the birth of the genetic age, a powerful vocabulary has emerged to express science’s growing command over the matter of life. Armed with knowledge of the code that governs all living things, biology and biotechnology are poised to edit, even rewrite, the texts of life to correct nature’s mistakes.

Yet, how far should the capacity to manipulate what life is at the molecular level authorize science to define what life is for? Can Science Make Sense of Life? looks at flash points in law, politics, ethics, and culture to argue that science’s promises of perfectibility have gone too far. Science may have editorial control over the material elements of life, but it does not supersede the languages of sense-making that have helped define human values across millennia: the meanings of autonomy, integrity, and privacy; the bonds of kinship, family, and society; and the place of humans in nature.

Series: New Human Frontiers

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  • Can Science Make Sense of Life?
    Since the discovery of the structure of DNA and the birth of the genetic age, a powerful vocabulary has emerged to express science’s growing command over the matter of life. Armed with knowledge of the code that governs all living things, biology and biotechnology are poised to edit, even rewrite, the texts of life to correct nature’s mistakes. Yet, how...
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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Praised by Patricia Williams of Columbia Law School for highlighting critical governance issues in biotechnology, this book exposes confusions between genetic data and social goals, urging a return to democratic complexity in policymaking. George Church of Harvard University endorses it as a thoughtful, current resource for those concerned with technology's equitable distribution and Earth’s health. The work is recognised as a crucial reminder of the ongoing scientific revolution demanding shared decision-making about life’s nature.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781509522712

Publisher: John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 30 November 2018

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Polity Press

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 20.0mm

Width: 137.0mm

Height: 213.0mm

Weight: 318g

Pages: 156

About the Author

Sheila Jasanoff is Pforzheimer Professor of Science and Technology Studies at the Harvard Kennedy School

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