Chips, Clones, and Living Beyond 100: How Far Will the Biosciences Take Us? |  | Authors: Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Joyce A. Schoemaker
Publisher: FT Press
List Price: $24.99
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 901266
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Pages: 240
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0137153856
Dewey Decimal Number: 660.6
EAN: 9780137153855
ASIN: 0137153856
Publication Date: September 18, 2009
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Product Description
"A stimulating and exciting look at how we got to the present state of health care and where we can potentially go. A unique perspective and a great read." David Lester, Ph.D., President, ITHW Inc.; formerly Director, Human Health Technologies, Pfizer Inc. "The explosion of new knowledge in the biosciences will raise important challenges for our social, ethical, and economic thinking. The Schoemakers have given us an incredibly useful book to stimulate that thinking. One could not ask for a better guidebook to an exciting if challenging future." Professor Arthur L. Caplan, Director of the Center for Bioethics and Hart Professor, University of Pennsylvania "What a fascinating book! The authors have really mastered all the aspects (social, human, scientific, and business) of the biomedical revolution that is taking place this century. Awesome." Giancarlo Barolat,M.D., Director, Barolat Neuroscience, Presbyterian St. Luke Medical Center, Denver; formerly Professor of Neurosurgery at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia "Wonderfully comprehensive, yet still digestible for non-scientists. Wish I had this book when we examined some health care innovation opportunities at GE; it would have provided a great foundation for the team." Patia McGrath, Global Director - Innovation and Strategic Connections, Corporate Marketing, General Electric The key scientific discoveries of the 21st century are coming from the biosciences. These discoveries will impact our lives in ways we can only begin to imagine. Now, two leading experts will help you imagine those impacts--and prepare for them. Paul and Joyce Schoemaker preview the research innovations most likely to emerge in the coming years and reveal what they're likely to mean for everything from human longevity to the health of society, from bioterrorism to personalized medicine. Writing for every interested citizen and consumer, the Schoemakers illuminate the hottest technologies and most controversial issues associated with contemporary biotechnology--including stem cells, cloning, pharmacogenetics, DNA chips, proteomics, gene therapy, and much more. Then, drawing on Paul Schoemaker's unsurpassed experience helping global organizations prepare for the future, the authors sketch multiple long-term scenarios for the biosciences!and reveal how they will impact your health, family, career, and the society you live in. / How long will you live? How long can you live? Beyond 100: breakthroughs made, breakthroughs yet to come / New business opportunities for the age of biosciences The future of pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, disease management, and prevention / The economics, politics, and technology of the bioscience revolution What's driving the biosciences--and what could halt them dead in their tracks / To 2025 and beyond: powerful scenarios and what they mean Making sense of the age of biosciences--so you can make better decisions for you and your family
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
 Take a look into the future of health science November 24, 2009
Bryan Cass (Victor, NY USA)
I got this book because I have been thinking about what it would be like to live 200-300 years, instead of the 70-100 years we are currently stuck with. I thought it was be much better to live longer because humans could gain even more experience and knowledge than currently, as well as be able to impart that knowledge to future generations. I figured it would be a boon for mankind and our cultural and scientific evolutions.
This book, though, brings up many good cultural, moral and economic issues that we would have to deal with if longer life were a reality. The book asks "Will serial monogamy become the norm if being married for 80+ years to the same person isn't appealing any more?" And "Should the elderly share their wealth earlier with relatives who offer support structures?" "Can the 'sandwich' generation, who cares simultaneously for its own children and parents, also handle grandchildren and grandparents?" Will medicine shift from handling mostly acute care to handling chronic care? How about the larger political clout that a large senior population would have? All very interesting and intriguing topics.
This book reads almost like a school textbook, with ideas presented in an open-ended way, with chapter summaries. References, sidebars and notes are copious. The text seems to be a "what-if" reference to help you think about where the biosciences are heading with regard to extending or improving human life. There has obviously been a lot of research and thought put into this book with an emphasis on academic discussion and hypotheses. Also, the authors attempt to project a couple different scenarios out to the year 2025 as a way to visualize what the health/bioscience world may look like, given several different variables.
Without presenting any definitive answers, I think this book will cause you to think about, with regard to the biosciences, where our society has come from, where we are today, and where we could end up in the next couple decades. If you are not put off by the academic style of the text, I would recommend this book for those who are interested in thinking about the possibilities of modern genetics, biochemistry, genomics, stem cell therapy, cloning, etc.
 This didn't teach me as much as I'd hoped it would November 24, 2009
Thornwell Simons (Columbia, SC United States)
This is a short book containing a series of articles on modern biotechnology and possible near-term advances. I picked it up primarily because I read a lot of science fiction and the "grabby" title made the book seem like it was going to be an in-depth projection of the next hundred years or so of biotechnology.
Most of the book, wasn't that. Most of the book is, instead, a general-audience summary of modern biotechnology, opening with headings like "The Discovery of Antibiotics" or "The DNA Revolution" (presumably to catch everyone up who can't remember high school biology). Several articles then cover the state of modern biotechnology from a scientific and business perspective (apparently, the pharmaceutical industry is under a lot of pressure these days).
Only the final two chapters (out of nine, not including appendices) really indulge in actual speculation about what technologies might lead to an average lifespan above 100, and what such an extended general lifespan might mean for society (primarily, in their discussion, Western society).
All that said, I'll give the book four stars because the authors clearly know their material and I did learn something new in every chapter (even if sometimes that something was only "Hey, this person they're citing looks really interesting.") It doesn't make it to five, though, largely because it seems to have never decided on an audience -- it seems too technical for general audience readers, too dumbed-down for technical readers, and with only a bare minimum of the title's promised speculation.
 A good report but not clear who the audience is November 20, 2009
Bruce_in_LA (los angeles, ca United States)
The Shoemakers have taken a brave stab at a big, big task: the impact of the biosciences on our world are vast (medicine, biotechnology, green technologies related to bioscience, foods, etc etc) and the time scale is long - well into the future, the next century, etc.
So with a landscape like that, at best, prediction is difficult. For example, in the area of stem cell research, the potential is high - well, we knew that - but it's extremely uncertain how fast any of it will actually impact medical care, and how effectively, and at what price.
And when I say, it's not clear who the audience is, consider the fact that in order to explain things like genetic engineering and stem cells to a general audience, you go through a lot of very basic material trying to hold the attention of the "intelligent high school graduate" reader, while quite a few readers may already be pretty scientifically or biologically literate and want to go straight to the horizon-stretching parts of the book.
My main concern is that some of the projections and time tables are so speculative that it is guesswork which is not all that satisfying when stretched into a book-length work - may have worked better as a couple good magazine articles. Or as the basis for a NOVA special, perhaps.
Informative, maybe not quite "stimulating and exciting" November 19, 2009
A Customer (USA)
The main benefit to reading this book is to get a fair overview of current and upcoming life-enhancing medicine, if indeed you lack that. It covers a lot of material for a short volume, and therefore is not as in-depth as other books covering specific subtopics.
In several places, I thought it would have been interesting if they mentioned some amusing offshoots of the subject which I personally already knew about. But then maybe, if I had my way, the book would end up bloated.
I can't help but note that this book is just slightly bland. Maybe I am just spoiled because I had started reading Robert Sapolsky's "The Trouble With Testosterone" when "Chips, Clones..." arrived.
Including both past, present, and future progress, this is a good book if you have failed to regularly read the science section of your favorite news source and you want to catch up on a few decades of basic news.
I gave it 4 stars because the book is perfectly functional in that way, and I do wish there were, in general, more of this sort of book out there. But it isn't the kind of book I am likely to suggest exuberantly to anyone as if it were one of my favorites.
Can be interesting...other times to dry November 19, 2009
JRay (Wisconsin)
I thought I would just eat this book up. I was very excited to read this book, but it was just alittle to textbook and dry for me. It makes me wonder who the real audience for this book might be? Was this book written for students, a ethics class, students of the biosciences, or businessmen or investors alike. I felt like I was back in chemestry or basic biology again trying to figure out what is where and how does that cell or work this cell again. BUT if you can get past the technical writing of this book, you may find some very interesting developments that are occuring in this field. I do think this book is to simple and brief overview of the biosciences.
I thought the authors did do a good job explaining the science, where they though the biosciences are going, the possible ethics involved, and the financing issues involved. But this book was just to technical for me to get through. I am more interesting in how the biosciences are going to affect patients and the ethical implications, which they did address in this book (which is why I gave the book three stars).
One problem with a book like this though..is with the changing health care needs, access problems, and high cost (not equal to quality outcome measures) who knows if this book will be relevant in 1, 5, or even 10 years. Interesting indeed but I am not sure that I will be saving this book that long to see.
I could see this book in a introduction class somewhere but I can't say that I would recommend this book to many others.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 16
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