The thrilling and terrifying history of genetic engineering
In 2018, scientists manipulated the DNA of human babies for the first time. As biologist and historian Matthew Cobb shows in As Gods, this achievement was one many scientists have feared from the start of the genetic age.
Four times in the last fifty years, geneticists, frightened by their own technology, have called a temporary halt to their experiments. They ought to be frightened: Now we have powers that can target the extinction of pests, change our own genes, or create dangerous new versions of diseases in an attempt to prevent future pandemics.
Both awe-inspiring and chilling, As Gods traces the history of genetic engineering, showing that this revolutionary technology is far too important to be left to the scientists. They have the power to change life itself, but should we trust them to keep their ingenuity from producing a hellish reality?
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“Cobb’s lucid analysis illuminates the stakes of the scientific debates…An eye-opening—and occasionally hair-raising—indictment of scientific hubris and recklessness.”
— Publishers Weekly
“[A] deeply researched and often deeply troubling history of gene science.”
— New York Times Book Review“Disturbing and readable."
— New Scientist (London)“[A] remarkable jaunt through the twists and turns of the genetic engineering revolution.”
— Science“The ideal guide to what is not just a fiendishly complex area of science but also an ethical minefield.”
— Mail on Sunday (London)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Matthew Cobb is a professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester, Manchester, England. He is the author of six books: The Idea of the Brain, Life’s Greatest Secret, Generation, The Resistance, Eleven Days in August, and Smell: A Very Short Introduction.
Joe Jameson trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has narrated over a hundred audiobooks, including titles by Gillian Slovo, Bear Grylls, Malorie Blackman, and Susan Hill, as well as The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff. He also works extensively in theater and television.