Pete Shanks

Pete Shanks, MA, attended Oxford University, where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics, and moved to California in the mid-1970s. He has been active in a range of local and international political movements, while mostly making his living in the publishing industry, especially on the production side; he enjoys the craft of bookmaking. Appalled by the eugenic possibilities of biotechnology, he has consulted with the Center for Genetics and Society since its earliest days. He is the author of Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed (Nation Books) and a regular contributor to Biopolitical Times.

Profile picture for user Pete Shanks

Publications

a gloved hand picking up a part of a DNA strand with forceps
By Pete Shanks, The Progressive Magazine | 12.04.2023

Five years ago, on November 25, 2018, the world learned that a rogue Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, had created the...

Stem cell injection
By Pete Shanks, Capitol Weekly | 10.26.2020

At a time of budget crisis, Proposition 14 commits California to spending $5 billion (plus interest) that we don’t have...

scientist looking at a computer monitor
By Pete Shanks, The Progressive | 08.14.2019

In mid-July, a bipartisan trio of U.S. Senators—Democrats Dianne Feinstein of California and Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Republican...

In the News

Green, blue, and yellow image of a stem cell
By David Jensen [cites CGS' Pete Shanks], The California Stem Cell Report | 06.24.2024

Image by NIH Image Gallery from Flickr

The Biopolitical Times reported this month that the California stem cell and gene...

sickle cell in test tube
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post [cites CGS’ Pete Shanks ] | 12.08.2023

The first medicine based on gene editing, a one-time therapy for sickle cell disease, was just approved in the...

a gloved hand picking up a part of a DNA strand with forceps
By Pete Shanks, The Progressive Magazine | 12.04.2023

Five years ago, on November 25, 2018, the world learned that a rogue Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, had created the...

Biopolitical Times

Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore  is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

On October 7, Donald Trump’s long-standing promotion...

Reproductive rights have been a flashpoint in national politics for decades, with the stakes surging after the Supreme Court shredded...

Talks and Testimonies

Shaping SF Panel presenters Tito Jankowski, Elliot Hosman, and Pete Shank look thoughyfully engaged in discussion. Above them is a quote from Jennifer Doudna stating, "Once the discovery is made, it's out there. Anybody with basic molecular biology training can use it for genome editing. That's a bit scary."

Synthetic Biology Shaping San Francisco hosted a forum titled, "Synthetic Biology: DIY Tinkering Meets Big Capital." 

Full video and transcript can be...