Summer 2021: Good Reads on Biopolitics

Biopolitical Times
books arranged spine up on a table

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

It’s August – which means there’s still summer time left to sample some of the many recent books and movies about human genetics and reproduction.

The Center for Genetics and Society does not have a formal Review section, but does publish reviews of books, and occasionally movies, that are relevant to genetics and reproduction. These are in chronological order, starting with the most recent.

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
Reviewed by Anna Fang | 08.12.2021

Pure America: Eugenics and the Making of Modern Virginia by Elizabeth Catte
Reviewed by Anne Rumberger | 08.10.2021

Failing to Face Reality by Charles Murray
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 08.04.2021

CRISPR People: The Science and Ethics of Editing Humans by Henry T. Greely
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 06.04.2021

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 04.05.2021

Some Recent and Forthcoming Books on Human Genome Editing, a list compiled by Pete Shanks (11.12.20) that includes
Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing by Kevin Davies
The Human Gene Editing Debate by John Evans
The Mutant Project: Inside the Global Race to Genetically Modify Humans by Eben Kirksey

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 08.10.2021

Let There Be Life: An Intimate Portrait of Robert Edwards and His IVF Revolution by Roger Gosden
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 07.20.2020

Movie Review: Human Nature directed by Adam Bolt
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 04.02.2020

Altered Inheritance—CRISPR and the Ethics of Human Genome Editing by Françoise Baylis
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 11.15.2019

Superior: The Return of Race Science by Angela Saini
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 07.11.2019

Hacking Darwin by Jamie Metzl
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 05.31.2019

Can Science Make Sense of Life? by Sheila Jasanoff
Reviewed by Pete Shanks | 05.03.2019

Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love by Dani Shapiro
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 04.19.2019

Personalised Medicine, Individual Choice and the Common Good, edited by Britta van Beers, Sigrid Sterckx, and Donna Dickenson
Reviewed by Gina Maranto | 02.06.2019