Biotech Juggernaut: Hope, Hype, and Hidden Agendas of Entrepreneurial BioScience

Clearly, concisely and brilliantly, the authors of Biotech Juggernaut do us the favor of documenting the stealthy and self-interested way that biotech companies are moving us closer to the day when, through steady advances in genetic engineering, designer babies are a reality. That is, the wealthy will be able to choose desired traits for their offspring while the plight of the poor will further worsen because they will be demonized on a whole other level for being inferior. Talk about inequality! It's one thing to move carefully toward the possibility of eradicating disease and birth defects, but it's another to subvert nature altogether by changing the course of human evolution. The problem is that profound ethical issues arising over the last forty years have been substantially elided. The companies themselves are steering the discussion and, sadly, are guilty of manipulating more than genes: they have weaved a web of deception, including obscuring or downplaying the risks that have existed at every juncture and loom in the future. The university scientists who started many of the biotech companies (in conjunction with venture capitalists) have clear-cut, substantial conflicts of interest that are documented in Biotech Juggernaut. Ultimately, this perilous and scandalous situation is another instance of the profit motive seeping into every area of existence. Though the book is written seamlessly, it's obvious that that co-author Stuart Newman, a Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at New York Medical College specializing in developmental and evolutionary biology, has supplied most of the scientific input. The Biotech Juggernaut argues that the genome is so complex that modifications will produce the desired results but also, contra to what the companies are indicating, inevitably create derangements that can't be predicted. Given the industry's momentum and the ignorance and/or indifference of everyone else, we are facing the prospect of uncontrolled human experimentation with intrinsically uncertain outcomes. The bottom line is organisms are not machines that can be rationally engineered. The authors' posture is that the biotech companies should not be making ethical decisions in a vacuum. Unfortunately, the technical issues are so complex at bottom that many ethicists shy away from looking at them. The authors air all the issues in a way that's even comprehensible to non-scientists. The book contains a handy glossary of technical terms. Other than global warming, the creep towards this particular brave new world is arguably the scientific concern most worthy of general attention, outrage, and action.

This a well-written and accessible exploration of biotechnological entrepreneurship, highlighting the shadow side of what happens when commercial interests usurp touted therapeutic offerings of genetic engineering, including cloning and human-nonhuman chimeras. It is both an education and a call to make our voices heard in the public sphere as decisions are being made to re-shape humans, animals, and the environment at a rapid pace. Tina Stevens and Stuart Newman are important voices to be considered in this much needed civic conversation.

this important book provides information (and documentation) that the biotech industry would like to keep hidden

These days you can’t help reading in the media about genetic engineering, cloning your pet, genetically modified foods, and the manipulation of human eggs for research. When I got a PhD in human genetics over 50 years ago, I had no idea that the work we did in a university research laboratory would eventually contribute to significant medical advances and improvements in many areas, but also to profit-driven risky treatments of people, deaths of some patients resulting from insufficiently understood procedures, conflicts of interest among researchers who stand to gain financially from their research results, ethical dilemmas involving unknown consequences of altering the genetic makeup of plants, animals and people. . . Back then our goals as researchers were so straightforward! Biotech Juggernaut is a fascinating book that provides understandable explanations of the technology we keep hearing about; a historical perspective of the views and decisions of researchers, bioentrepreneurs, legislators, ethicists, and the general public; and well-thought out conclusions and opinions from Drs. Tina Stevens and Stuart Newman, both well-known experts in their fields. I learned so much!Jennifer Schneider, M.D., Ph.D.

Tina Stevens has been a passionate thought leader in bioethics for over 20 years. Her dedication to education and change are inspiring and exemplified in this book. This book should be considered an important and meaningful addition to the broader conversation of bioethics in America and around the world.