This book gives an overview of the potential and the practical details that need to be resolved in order to make human germline engineering possible. It presents the ethical and social concerns, and implications of our fast-approaching capability to alter our own germline and take an active role in the future evolution of our own species. It provides explanations of how we have arrived at the capability to clone higher animals, and discusses the implications for human therapies and for our own future when these techniques are applied to the human germline.

An update of the best selling Book of Questions, the revised book poses over 300 questions that invite people to explore the most fascinating of subjects: themselves. It's a book that can be used as an avenue for personal growth, a tool for deepening relationships, a way to get to know someone quickly, or simply as a fun way to pass the time on long car trips. The revised edition is completely updated, and features over 100 new questions that reflect the current culture shifts of the past 25 years. (Question No. 23: How would you react if you learned that a sad and beautiful poem that touched you deeply had been written by a computer? Question No. 129: Would you feel more handicapped by losing the use of all motorised vehicles, all telecommunications devices and computers, or your nondominant hand? If you had to give one up, which would you pick? Question No. 256: You discover that, because of a mix up at the hospital, your wonderful two-year-old is not actually yours. Would you want to switch kids to try to correct the mistake? What if you'd never hear anything more about the child you gave up?).

A groundbreaking work, Redesigning Humans tackles the controversial subject of engineering the human germline -- the process of permanently altering the genetic code of an individual so that the changes are passed on to the offspring. Gregory Stock, an expert on the implications of recent advances in reproductive biology, has glimpsed the inevitable future of biomedical engineering. Within decades, Stock asserts, technological advances will bring meaningful changes to our offspring; this scientific revolution promises to fundamentally alter the human species. With recent findings presented in a new afterword, Stock's provocative assessment cuts through the debate to envision an age of radical biotechnological advancement and unprecedented human choice.