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A concise primer that complicates a convenient truth in
biology—the divide between germ and somatic cells—with
far-reaching ethical and public policy ramifications.
Scientists have long held that we two have kinds of cells—germ
and soma. Make a change to germ cells—say using genome
editing—and that change will appear in the cells of future
generations. Somatic cells are “safe” after such tampering;
modify your skin cells, and your future children’s skin cells
will never know. And, while germ cells can give rise to new
generations (including all of the somatic cells in a body), somatic
cells can never become germ cells. How did scientists discover this
relationship and distinction between somatic and germ cells—the
so-called Weismann Barrier—and does it actually exist? Can
somatic cells become germ cells in the way germ cells become
somatic cells? That is, can germ cells regenerate from somatic
cells even though conventional wisdom denies this possibility?
Covering research from the late nineteenth century to the 2020s,
historian and philosopher of science Kate MacCord explores how
scientists came to understand and accept the dubious concept of the
Weismann Barrier and what profound implications this convenient
assumption has for research and policy, from genome editing to stem
cell research, and much more.
A concise primer that complicates a convenient truth in
biology—the divide between germ and somatic cells—with
far-reaching ethical and public policy ramifications.
Scientists have long held that we two have kinds of cells—germ
and soma. Make a change to germ cells—say using genome
editing—and that change will appear in the cells of future
generations. Somatic cells are “safe” after such tampering;
modify your skin cells, and your future children’s skin cells
will never know. And, while germ cells can give rise to new
generations (including all of the somatic cells in a body), somatic
cells can never become germ cells. How did scientists discover this
relationship and distinction between somatic and germ cells—the
so-called Weismann Barrier—and does it actually exist? Can
somatic cells become germ cells in the way germ cells become
somatic cells? That is, can germ cells regenerate from somatic
cells even though conventional wisdom denies this possibility?
Covering research from the late nineteenth century to the 2020s,
historian and philosopher of science Kate MacCord explores how
scientists came to understand and accept the dubious concept of the
Weismann Barrier and what profound implications this convenient
assumption has for research and policy, from genome editing to stem
cell research, and much more.
Two historians and philosophers of science offer an essential
primer on the meaning and limits of regeneration. In punishment for
his stealing fire, the Greek gods chained Prometheus to a rock,
where every day an eagle plucked out his liver, and every night the
liver regenerated. While Prometheus may be a figure of myth,
scholars today ask whether ancient Greeks knew that the human liver
does, in fact, have a special capacity to regenerate. Some organs
and tissues can regenerate, while others cannot, and some organisms
can regenerate more fully and more easily than others. Cut an
earthworm in half, and two wiggly worms may confront you. Cut off
the head of a hydra, and it may grow a new head. Cut off a human
arm, and the human will be missing an arm. Why the differences?
What are the limits of regeneration, and how, when, and why does it
occur? In this book, historians and philosophers of science Jane
Maienschein and Kate MacCord explore biological regeneration,
delving into a topic of increasing interest in light of
regenerative medicine, new tools in developmental and neurobiology,
and the urgent need to understand and repair damage to ecosystems
brought on by climate change. Looking across scales, from germ,
nerve, and stem cells to individual organisms and complex systems,
this short and accessible introduction poses a range of deep and
provocative questions: What conditions allow some damaged
microbiomes to regenerate where others do not? Why are forests
following a fire said to regenerate sometimes but not always? And
in the face of climate change in the era called the Anthropocene,
can the planet regenerate to become healthy again, or will the
global ecosystem collapse?
The original 1818 text of Mary Shelley's classic novel, with
annotations and essays highlighting its scientific, ethical, and
cautionary aspects. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein has endured in the
popular imagination for two hundred years. Begun as a ghost story
by an intellectually and socially precocious eighteen-year-old
author during a cold and rainy summer on the shores of Lake Geneva,
the dramatic tale of Victor Frankenstein and his stitched-together
creature can be read as the ultimate parable of scientific hubris.
Victor, "the modern Prometheus," tried to do what he perhaps should
have left to Nature: create life. Although the novel is most often
discussed in literary-historical terms-as a seminal example of
romanticism or as a groundbreaking early work of science
fiction-Mary Shelley was keenly aware of contemporary scientific
developments and incorporated them into her story. In our era of
synthetic biology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and climate
engineering, this edition of Frankenstein will resonate forcefully
for readers with a background or interest in science and
engineering, and anyone intrigued by the fundamental questions of
creativity and responsibility. This edition of Frankenstein pairs
the original 1818 version of the manuscript-meticulously
line-edited and amended by Charles E. Robinson, one of the world's
preeminent authorities on the text-with annotations and essays by
leading scholars exploring the social and ethical aspects of
scientific creativity raised by this remarkable story. The result
is a unique and accessible edition of one of the most
thought-provoking and influential novels ever written. Essays by
Elizabeth Bear, Cory Doctorow, Heather E. Douglas, Josephine
Johnston, Kate MacCord, Jane Maienschein, Anne K. Mellor, Alfred
Nordmann
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