The Frankenstein Syndrome: Ethical and Social Issues in the Genetic Engineering of Animals

Cambridge Studies in Philosophy and Public Policy

by Bernard E. Rollin

This book is a philosophically sophisticated and scientifically well-informed discussion of the moral and social issues raised by genetically engineering animals, a powerful technology that has major implications for society. Unlike other books on this emotionally charged subject, the author attempts to inform, not inflame, the reader about the real problems society must address in order to manage this technology. Nontechnical and anecdotal in nature, written by a professor of philosophy, physiology and biophysics, this book will appeal to both specialists and general readers with an interest in genetic engineering.

Genres: Science

255 pages, Hardcover

First published June 30, 1995

About the author

Professor Bernard E. Rollin is University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Biomedical Sciences, Professor of Animal Sciences and University Bioethicist at Colorado State University. His scholarly interests include both traditional philosophy and applied philosophy and much of his research is focused on animal welfare. He has been a valued member of the Voiceless Scientific Expert Advisory Council since 2009.

Bernard has a Bachelor’s Degree from the City College of New York and a PhD from Columbia. He is the author of over 400 papers and fourteen books including Science and Ethics and Animal Rights and Human Morality which won an Outstanding Book of the Year Award from the American Association of University Libraries. He has consulted for the US Department of Agriculture and for a number of multinational corporations including United Airlines, PETCO, DuPont and the US Soybean Association on a variety of agricultural and animal welfare issues. He served on the Pew National Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP) and on the Institute for Laboratory Animal Resources (ILAR) Council of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2008, he mediated a historic agreement between the Humane Society of the U.S. and Colorado agriculture resulting in legislation advancing the welfare of farm animals.

Rollin was named to the Distinguished Faculty Gallery by the College of Veterinary Medicine at CSU in 1992. He has twice been awarded the Brownlee Award for outstanding achievement in Animal Welfare Science by the Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada and is a recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Colorado Veterinary Medical Association. In 2005, he was awarded the Henry Spira Award in Animal Welfare by Johns Hopkins University Centre for Alternatives to Animal Testing and received the Humane Award from the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2007.

He recently contributed to the documentary film The Superior Human? which challenges the Cartesian duality which hierarchically divides humans from other animals.

Reviews

[Sune Borkfelt · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a lot of ways, this book is clearly somewhat dated, as any book about the ethics of a technology that has developed immensely since the book was written must be (it shows, for instance, that it is written pre CRISPR). Also, it deals in large parts with a specifically US legal context, which sometimes makes certain examples and arguments irrelevant elsewhere. In other words, there are some parts that one might especially as a non-US reader, skip.

That said, Rollin does argue clearly and many of the more general arguments certainly still apply, and one does not have to agree with Rollin to see the force and logic of his arguments.
Moreover, the book is often entertaining, if at times unfocused, as Rollin goes off into long analogies and anecdotes based in his personal experience. This makes for the occasional laugh, which is not something you can say about every animal ethics book.

[Allie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rollin is a pretty crazy guy. He's a good professor, but does like to tell the same jokes over and over. His knowledge of bioethics is pretty amazing and I have an immense amount of respect for his theories, though my own opinions on biotechnology have changed some since reading this book. The points he raises are very valid...however he doesn't necessarily take the argument about why biotechnology is dangerous far enough.