Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There are few more important contemporary topics than the potential of genetic engineering to change the course of evolution on earth. Beyond the hype and exaggeration one encounters in the mass media, the ability to write, edit and delete DNA does have planet changing implications. Hacking Darwin begins promisingly as an effort to communicate the science and ethics of bio-engineering to a wider audience. The author has toured the country speaking to young adults about the topic, has written several novels exploring the theme and served prominently in science related posts in Democratic administrations. It seems like the book has the potential to bring some sense of urgency and gravitas to an issue with more potential ramifications than whether Democrats or Republicans win the next election. But the author only does a cursory job of explaining the science of in vitro fertilization, cloning and CRISPR. Instead he devotes most of the book to more or less overtly trying to spread his own ideas about potential ethical ramifications. Thus, we learn that technological advances that cause more good than harm are morally acceptable. There is no effort to even dialogue with religious/ethical traditions that approach morality from a non-utilitarian/consequentialist framework. We also learn that enhancing intelligence, even to a super-human level, is morally equivalent to preventing your child from a severe genetic defect. Again, the author opines that regimes that try to prohibit genetic engineering will become authoritarian police states controlling the reproductive lives of their citizens. It’s not that I resent the author’s right to have strong opinions it’s that the book could have been so much more. He could have gone beyond the N.Y. Times level of science reporting and given his readers a real understanding of the subject. He could have engaged many sources of reflection on genetic engineering’s potential instead of just his own. Even his attempt to quote the Bible fails. He tries to cite Judaism’s stance by quoting from Genesis when he is actually quoting from the Talmud. Genetic Engineering will revolutionize the world. So will artificial intelligence. But there is no need for another rehashing of popular science followed by one person’s rather pedantic opinions. Perhaps young people entering college will be engaged by a book that asks these questions (as presumably the author engages audiences when he gives speaking tours) but it is not a serious contribution to a very serious subject. Not recommended.