Customer Reviews (3)

Second Review Unfair
Yeah, I read most of this book, and it is the most original and interesting piece of vampire fiction.Maybe the second reviewer should actually read the book before making coughunfoundedcough jugdements.

More information needed
I haven't read the book, but the title intrigues.Seems like comedy...I wish a had a blurb describing a little more about the book.Why would someone take a chance on an unknown author without a bit of summary?I gave it 3 stars because I haven't read it and I don't want to affect the rating one way or the other really and 3 is kind of in the middle.Note to the author: PUT IN A BLURB!!!

New twist
It's an interesting new
twist to the typical vampire fiction. Suspenseful and riveting. I recommend highly to everyone! ... Read more

Product Description

Body Doubles: Cloning Plants and Animals looks into the make-up of chromosomes and DNA and shows how scientists have taken the natural cloning process of plants and animals into their own hands. Learn how genes can be switched on and off, how micropropogat

... Read more

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The most important technology of the 21st century.

Do a double-take with this one-of-a-kind guide. One of technology's most awe-inspiring and hotly-debated topics-cloning-is made clearer here than anywhere else. It runs the gamut from genetic- and bioengineering, to an even handed analysis of the moral, political, and ethical issues surrounding these technologies.

€ Claims of cloned babies, the Human Genome Project, and cryogenics continue to create headlines and spur debate
€ Congress will soon decide whether the federal government should have a say about cloning human cells for medical research ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Book Purchase
I had no problems at all with my book purchase.The book came promptly and was in excellent condition.

Unique and informed!
Having been a human cloning activist since 1997, I expected this book would be another moralistic rehashing of today's contemporary debate.

It certainly covered all those arguments.However, it proved to be amazingly accurate, well researched and informative.This was one of the few books which clearly explained technical details that even I was not aware of--like the chromosonal reasons that made cloning human beings very difficult.(This problem was overcome in Korea by using cells surrounding the woman's egg for nuclear transfer.)

What makes this book truly remarkable is the manner in which it goes beyond explaining both the science and the moral arguments surrounding reproductive and therapeutic cloning.It examinesbioengineering animals, the promise and perils of gene therapy, "BioFoods: Frankenfoods or a Cure for Hunger?", how pharming promises to transform medicine and even explores some of the thinking of Transhumanists and science fiction visionaries.

Yes, I objected to the dismal overview of reproductive cloning.However, the authors separated that highly touted debate from other areas where many propogandists frequently use
reproductive cloning and popular Hollywood images like "Boys from Brazil" as a club against serious scientists attempting to do important medical research.

The three pages about me contained a couple small errors, more of nuance than of fact.Having dealt with the press for years, I have found even Time Magazine can profoundly misrepresent one's beliefs.This book did much better.

If you have any doubts regarding any of the above, just type my name "Randolfe" into your search engine or visit www.clonerights.com

If someone wanted to explore a wide swath of emerging scientific technologies, this is the book I would suggest that they read. ... Read more

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Cloning - few words have as much potential to grip our imagination or grab the headlines. No longer the stuff of science fiction or Star Wars - it is happening now. Yet human cloning is currently banned throughout the world, and therapeutic cloning banned in many countries.

In this highly controversial book, John Harris does a lot more than ask why we are so afraid of cloning. He presents a deft and informed defence of human cloning, carefully exposing the rhetorical and highly dubious arguments against it. He begins with an introduction to what a human clone is, before tackling some of the most common and frequently bizarre criticisms of cloning: Is it really wicked? Can we regulate it? What about the welfare of cloned children? Does it turn human beings into commodities?

Dismissing one by one some of the myths about human cloning, in particular that it is degrading and unsafe, he astutely argues that some of our most cherished values, such as the freedom to start a family and the freedom from state control, actually support the case for human cloning.

Offering a brave and lucid insight into this ethical minefield, John Harris at last shows that far from ending the diversity of human life or creating a race of super-clones, cloning has the power to improve and heal human life. ... Read more

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The Vital Questions series presents the thinking of knowledgeable, qualified authors on "vital questions" that Christians should be able to discuss intelligently. These concise books provide to-the-point answers and present the author's viewpoint, while allowing room for reader thought and disagreement.

Cloning: Does God Need Our Help? Stem cell research . . . cloning . . . end-of-life issues . . . infertility treatments . . . These topics are splashed across the media nearly every day. What does it all mean, and how are Christians to respond? In this important book, respected authors in the bioethics field not only inform readers of the latest advances in biotechnology but clearly state the biblical principles by which Christians can judge how these technologies are used. This book emerges from the collaborative research on biotechnology and ethics sponsored by the Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

A very dissapointing read
Well, I started out reading this book with very high hopes. We were reading it in a sunday school class as a background for a discussion on biotechnology and bioethics. After the first chapter, it went downhill quickly. He often talks about techniques and ideas that I, as a graduate student in chemistry and biochemistry, know or found to be misleading or false. Examples of this include repeated references to an "artificial womb" and when he talks about a study done in the Netherlands on euthanasia. When I decided to look up the research to verify his facts, I found his numbers to be off by more than a factor of 10. The arguements made in the book are extremely one sided, and do not show a well thought out Christian perspective.

The Quiet Revolution--Biotechnology
The Quiet Revolution-Biotechnology

A review of the book Does God Need Our Help?: Cloning, Assisted Suicide, & Other Challenges in Bioethics by John F. Kilner and C. Ben Mitchell, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois, 2003.

While the 20th century was marked by social utopian movements such as Nazism and Communism, the 21st century heralds a new utopian effort based on recent biotechnological advance.This aim of this new biotechnology revolution is not the transformation of social structures per se, but rather the radical reformation of humanity itself.Some social scientists such as Francis Fukuyama now write nervously of a potential "posthuman future" as a result of this rapid technological advance. As Dr. Leon Kass reminds us, "No friend of humanity cheers for a posthuman future."
Surely we have all read recent reports on such issues as the Human Genome Project, stem cell research, genetic therapy, and cloning.Many of these issues seem technical, difficult to understand, and remote from our every day lives.Nevertheless such research continues in laboratories and medical centers around the world in a relatively quiet but unrelenting fashion for now.Rest assured that strong economic and social forces will ensure that these technological breakthroughs will soon demand attention in the medical marketplace.While some discoveries show great promise (such as gene therapy for diabetes and Parkinson's disease), others are morally problematic for us as Christians (such as human cloning and embryo research). The speed with which such discoveries now impact us and the ethical subtleties they entail leave many of us mentally giddy.Fortunately this work by two premier evangelical Christian bioethicists, John Kilner and Ben Mitchell, help to provide us with a useful primer for understanding and responding to the resultant bioethical issues. Their work is aimed at a general audience and nontechnical language prevails throughout the book.
Kilner and Mitchell begin by mapping out the prevailing secular ethical approaches to these issues-consequentialist, principalist, and virtue ethics (see the book for details).They go on to show how the Christian ethical approach (which is God-centered, reality-bounded, and love-impelled) is superior to all of the secular alternatives.Great pains are taken by the writers to emphasize the biblical principles that bear on biotechnology issues grounding them in the concept that human beings are the special creation of God as man and woman bear His very image (imago dei).We are not simply "computers made of meat" as Marvin Minsky suggests.Kilner and Mitchell go on to note that all of creation is now fallen leading to human suffering which makes the use of morally legitimate biotechnology research an endeavor worthy of our support.We as concerned Christians are not to be simply nattering nabobs of negativity in this matter.Gene therapy and adult stem cell research, for example, show great promise without being morally dubious.
The bulk of the book gives a good overview of a Christian approach to such bioethical issues as stem cell research, abortion, assisted suicide, infertility therapy, human cloning, and genetic research.The final chapter makes a vivid plea for the Christian vision of"a truly human future" as opposed to the exaggerated claims of this century's technological utopians.We are indebted to the authors for giving us a valuable framework for analyzing these difficult issues.The words of Leon Kass, chair of the President's Council on Bioethics are instructive in closing: "Human nature itself lies on the operating table, ready for alteration, for eugenic and neuropsychic "enhancement," for wholesale redesign...For anyone who cares about preserving our humanity, the time has come to pay attention."

From one of the authors
This is not another academic book on bioethics.Rather than writing for the academy, John Kilner and I have tried to write for people with little or no background in science, medicine, or ethics.

We begin with the Hippocratic Oath, moving through beginning of life and end of life decisions.We end with the emerging biotechnologies and the benefits and burdens they present.

Finally, we include suggested readings and resources for further study and study questions to make the book useful for small group discussions.

This book was designed for those who are struggling ethical decisions about their health care or for those who want to know more about stem cell research, cloning, reproductive technologies, euthanasia, resource allocation, and other issues.

My colleague, John Kilner, PhD., is a graduate of Yale University, Gordon Conwell Seminary, and Harvard University.He is currently President of the Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity, just north of Chicago, Illinois.I am associate professor of bioethics and contemporary culture at Trinity International University, in Deerfield, Illinois, and received my Ph.D. in philosophy with a concentration in medical ethics from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. ... Read more

Product Description
Nicholas Agar provides a uniquely accessible exploration of the highly controversial issue of cloning. Starting with the biology, and building up the scientific background step-by-step, Perfect Copy provides the perfect guide to the moral labyrinth that surrounds the cloning debate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

gross
ok so we had to read this book for biology and our school was the only school in our district to have to read it. so first we had to take 40 pages of dang notes on this book. and oh my goodness just to read it was boring wow..i stayed up till like 2 reading this just becuase i had to. maybe people who are actually interested in cloning will like it, but still its like not even entertaining, each time i read it..there I would be, just like sleeping on my desk and wasting time when i could have been watching the Suite Life of Zack and Cody. so after the grand 40 pages of notes, we had to make a stupid poster on our view of cloning according to facts from the book. It was just plain old G-A-Y. Then to top all that off we had to write a 10 page paper on the stupid book. Oh man it took so long, and believe or not im sitting here right now typing this paper and its due tommorow and ive only completed 2 pages. 2 PAGES OUT OF TEN PAGES!!!!! now tell me DOES THIS SUCK OR DOES THIS REALLY SUCK. and wait heres something, if i didnt have to do this paper. I WOULD HAVE NO HOMEWORK TODAY...and thatss neverhappened in my high school life, but thanks to this book i do have homework and about 7 hours of it. SO THANKS PERFECT COPY..THANKS YOUR JUST SWELL NIFTY LITTLE THING. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

BRAVO!!!
Even though this book was written in 1992 and countless books have been written about the subject since, this is still one of the most objective views on the subject of PC.Dr. Thibodaux explores terrorist tactics usedby fervent PC activists to intimidate, bully and manipulate American media,culture and general public. He explains political correctness in laic termsfocusing specifically on subjects like multiculturalism, afrocentrism andgenderism.He goes further to explain the position of Americanuniversities and their contribution to the growing sentiment towardridiculous censorship practices, intelligently labeling our academicinstitutions as the "though police" This is a clear, concise andunbiased explanation of what political correctness is, how it effects ourculture, and contributes to the "Cloning of the American Mind". ... Read more

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John Carroll Univ., Cleveland, OH. Collections of essays placing debates about cloning in the context of reproductive technology and human embryo research. Examines the status of preimplantation embryos, debates about cloning and embryo research, and the formulation of public policy. Offers secular and religious perspectives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

insight
The focus of Cloning and the future of Human Embryo Research, edited by Paul Lauritzen is questioning "whether cloning ethical"".This book is a collection of research-based essays by various authors who have credentials related to cloning.Lauritzen uses essays that come from a moral standpoint. Lauritzen suggests that "it is better to see Dolly's birth as an intermediate step- perhaps the penultimate step" (4). I believe that this means that there is more to come in research of cloning. The book is well researched.I like the book because it pushes you to challenge the arguments.Although the book's biggest weakness is failure to recognize that the discussion on cloning should be part science and part morals. After reading the book, the chapters provide excellent information, because they are well argued and suffiently open-ended enough to include both sides of the arguments.

Crucial Information for Current Debates
This collection of essays provides immensely valuable information for those concerned by current debates over cloning, stem cell research, assisted reproduction, and the general march of technology in biomedical ethics.This book comes highly recommended by many in the bioethics community.These debates should include not just professional bioethicists, but anyone concerned with the state of our democracy and our humanity in these crucial issues for the twenty-first century.

Cloning
I an a clone of my Great Grandfather. ... Read more

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This volume presents for the first time in a single book a variety of current techniques for cloning and expressing DNA molecules.Protocols are described in sufficient detail for immediate use in the laboratory. ... Read more

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University of Dundee, U.K.Softcover version of the laboratory manual in DNA cloning and analysis. ... Read more

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This book is one of four which together are considerably updated and totally revised texts that arose out of the very successful "DNA Cloning, Volume I-III" books in the Practical Approach series. This particular book describes ... techniques for genetic manipulation of mammalian cells, including gene amplification, retroviral and adenoviral vectors, and production of transgenic animals. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Good Book - Good Story
As both an author and reader of fiction, I was impressed with "The Cloning". Maybe it is because I have always enjoyed a book that could hold my attention and make me think at the same time. Give this book a try.
The fiction book that I have written main story theme is about ten years in the life of a little girl who was "chosen by God" to be the next Madonna in the second coming of Christ. Yes it has cloning in it.
Tommy Taylor
Author - The Second Virgin Birth

The Cloning
My first impression of "The Cloning" was the vibrant passion for the subject Jan Ledford feels.Her research shows--but in an interesting, non-intrusive way.I was pleased with the technical skills of the author.I became engrossed in the story and could not read fast enough.Thanks for your hard work, Jan.

Informative reading
This book is so very interesting. It is hard to put it down when you begin reading. It is evident the author researched the topic and is very knowledgable, not only about cloning, but also about the Bible and the viewpoint of God, the ultimate reviewer of not only our works, but our lives. Thanks, Jan Ledford, for your clear point of views and beliefs!! Waiting on the next book!

Read it, you'll love it!
This book is really wonderful.It challenges you to look at some hard issues while being kept wrapped up in well developed characters.

One of those books that you hope there's one more page to turn.

Loved the story--want to know more!
The Cloning was an engaging story that kept me turning the pages. I wanted to know what would happen NEXT? The Cloning makes you care about the characters, Elaina Gambrel, Lib and her parents, Farley Combes, and even Ruger (the cat). The action moves along at a brisk pace, never leaving you behing. I won't tell you the ending, or what Elaina discovered about herself and her motives. I won't tell you if she goes to jail forever and has to leave her beautiful clone-child behind. I will tell you that the Covenant Community Church is one of Jan Ledford's stronest characters, and a delight to spend time with.

Of course the issues of "cloning' come up in the book. And even though you know which side the author was on--both sides of the issue were covered fairly and well. But it is not a book about issues--it is a book about Elaina, the extremely ambitious medical writer with a lot of unfinished business form her past and parents. Elaina thinks a clone is the perfect solution; she can get the Nobel Prize and raise her child with the security she lacked. But then she finds her clone, Celeste, is a baby! A flesh and blood, beautiful baby.

Bring on the sequel! It's a book screaming for a sequel! I want to know what happens next? ... Read more

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With the birth of the cloned sheep named "Dolly," a technique once found only in science fiction has suddenly become reality, along with a host of new ethical, social, religious, and public policy dilemmas.What potential benefits could cloning research offer for the treatment of human disease?How do the scientific facts differ from the public perception of cloning?Will it be possible to clone human beings in the near future, and if so, for what purpose?Are scientists playing God?Should the government regulate such research?

These are just a few of the profound questions addressed in this timely collection of the most significant articles on the subject of cloning.Michael Ruse and Aryne Sheppard have selected the work of leading scientists, medical ethicists, healthcare specialists, philosophers, and representatives of various religous denominations to create an overview of the many issues raised by this amazing scientific advance.

Contributors include: Justine Burley, Ronald Cole-Turner, David Concar, David Elliot, Walter Glannon, Stephen Jay Gould, John Harris, Soren Holm, Axel Kahn, Leon R., Kass, A. J. Kind, Philip Kitcher, Arlene Judith Klotzko, J. H. Lipschutz, Harry M. Meade, Bernard E. Rollin, Julian Savulescu, A. E. Schnieke, Mary Warnock, Robert Williamson, Ian Wilmut, and Robert Winston.

In breadth of coverage and quality of the contributions, there is no comparable volume to this excellent collection on one of the most important issues of this century. ... Read more

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Harris's work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New Yorker, Playboy, and Discover. Now the author of Einstein Simplified and You Want Proof? I'll Give You Proof strikes again. "WHat's so funny about science? Sidney Harris, that's what!"--Isaac Asimov. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Geek humor at its best
'Science' magazine is one of the world's two premier outlets for the best in refereed general science reports, along with 'Nature.' It's also one of the places where Harris has published his brilliant cartoons.

The cover hooked me, but the first cartoon had me roaring out loud - a wry expression of the improbability (and wonder) of life on earth, and a clear but counterintuitive statement about chemical equilibrium in solutions with concentrations too low for statistical mechanics. Then a while later, a researcher emerges from a lab with a chimp, saying "It's just not working. HE's teaching MEprimate speech" - the researcher herself being a primate, of course. Then the "String Theory Quartet." Then the Museum Dilemma: X-rays reveal a Leonardo under a Rembrandt. And so on.

Science is far too important a matter to be taken seriously. Face it, we're an irrational and emotional species, playing (often convincingly) at rationality. Harris does a wonderful service for humankind: he makes all that hard stuff as accessible and visceral as a belly laugh. Harris is the only cartoonist I know of who correctly translates the subtleties of science into the silliness of the human condition. This doesn't ridicule or trivialize the science. Quite the opposite, Harris makes it real.

If Harris didn't exist, we would have had to invent him. But damm, I wouldn't have been smart enough to think him up. I'm just glad he was there to do it himself.

//wiredweird

The best science cartoons ever
Sidney Harris is without question the best cartoonist with a scientific bent; his cartoons lampoon science and the people who practice it. He also throws an occasional barb at the people who follow pseudoscience as well. No area of science is beyond his reach, everything from the environment to nuclear physics appears in his cartoons. I reread this book every five years or so and smile every time I see the cartoons again. I also place copies of some of his cartoons in my office. My students enjoy them and they are a recurrent reminder not to take myself too seriously. ... Read more