Liberation Biology

Liberation Biology
Author: Ronald Bailey
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Total Pages: 332
Release: 2013-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1615921699
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The 21st century will undoubtedly witness unprecedented advances in understanding the mechanisms of the human body and in developing biotechnology. With the mapping of the human genome, the pace of discovery is now on the fast track. By the middle of the century we can expect that the rapid progress in biology and biotechnology will utterly transform human life. What was once the stuff of science fiction may now be within reach in the not-too-distant future: 20-to-40-year leaps in average life spans, enhanced human bodies, drugs and therapies to boost memory and speed up mental processing, and a genetic science that allows parents to ensure that their children will have stronger immune systems, more athletic bodies, and cleverer brains. Even the prospect of human immortality beckons. Such scenarios excite many people and frighten or appall many others. Already biotechnology opponents are organizing political movements aimed at restricting scientific research, banning the development and commercialization of various products and technologies, and limiting citizens'' access to the fruits of the biotech revolution. In this forward-looking book Ronald Bailey, science writer for Reason magazine, argues that the coming biotechnology revolution, far from endangering human dignity, will liberate human beings to achieve their full potentials by enabling more of us to live flourishing lives free of disease, disability, and the threat of early death. Bailey covers the full range of the coming biotechnology breakthroughs, from stem-cell research to third-world farming, from brain-enhancing neuropharmaceuticals to designer babies. Against critics of these trends, who forecast the nightmare society of Huxley''s Brave New World, Bailey persuasively shows in lucid and well-argued prose that the health, safety, and ethical concerns raised by worried citizens and policymakers are misplaced. Liberation Biology makes a positive, optimistic, and convincing case that the biotechnology revolution will improve our lives and the future of our children, while preserving and enhancing the natural environment.

The Liberation of Life

The Liberation of Life
Author: Charles Birch
Publisher: CUP Archive
Total Pages: 372
Release: 1985-01-10
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780521315142
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This book is about the liberation of the concept of life from the bondage fashioned by the interpreters of life ever since biology began, and about the liberation of the life of humans and non-humans alike from the bondage of social structures and behaviour, which now threatens the fullness of life's possibilities if not survival itself. It falls into a tradition of writings about human problems from a perspective informed by biology. It rejects the mechanistic model of life dominant in the Western world and develops an alternative 'ecological model' which is applicable to the life of the cell and the life of the human community. For the first time it brings together in one work the insights of modern biology with those of a modern holistic philosophy and a liberal theology in a way which challenges conventional approaches to science, agriculture, sociology, politics, economics, development and liberation movements.

The Liberation of Life

The Liberation of Life
Author: Charles Birch
Publisher: University of North Texas
Total Pages: 353
Release: 1990-01-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9780962680700
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This book is about the liberation of the concept of life from the bondage fashioned by the interpreters of life ever since biology began, and about the liberation of the life of humans and non-humans alike from the bondage of social structures and behaviour, which now threatens the fullness of life's possibilities if not survival itself. It falls into a tradition of writings about human problems from a perspective informed by biology. It rejects the mechanistic model of life dominant in the Western world and develops an alternative 'ecological model' which is applicable to the life of the cell and the life of the human community. For the first time it brings together in one work the insights of modern biology with those of a modern holistic philosophy and a liberal theology in a way which challenges conventional approaches to science, agriculture, sociology, politics, economics, development and liberation movements.

Data-Centric Biology

Data-Centric Biology
Author: Sabina Leonelli
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2016-11-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 022641650X
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In recent decades, there has been a major shift in the way researchers process and understand scientific data. Digital access to data has revolutionized ways of doing science in the biological and biomedical fields, leading to a data-intensive approach to research that uses innovative methods to produce, store, distribute, and interpret huge amounts of data. In Data-Centric Biology, Sabina Leonelli probes the implications of these advancements and confronts the questions they pose. Are we witnessing the rise of an entirely new scientific epistemology? If so, how does that alter the way we study and understand life—including ourselves? Leonelli is the first scholar to use a study of contemporary data-intensive science to provide a philosophical analysis of the epistemology of data. In analyzing the rise, internal dynamics, and potential impact of data-centric biology, she draws on scholarship across diverse fields of science and the humanities—as well as her own original empirical material—to pinpoint the conditions under which digitally available data can further our understanding of life. Bridging the divide between historians, sociologists, and philosophers of science, Data-Centric Biology offers a nuanced account of an issue that is of fundamental importance to our understanding of contemporary scientific practices.

The Liberation of Life

The Liberation of Life
Author: Charles Birch
Publisher:
Total Pages: 353
Release: 1981
Genre: Bioethics
ISBN:
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Buddhist Biology

Buddhist Biology
Author: David P. Barash
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 217
Release: 2014
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0199985561
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Compares teachings of Buddhism with principles of modern biology, revealing many significant points of compatibility.

Beyond Mechanism

Beyond Mechanism
Author: Brian G. Henning
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 488
Release: 2013-02-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0739174371
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It has been said that new discoveries and developments in the human, social, and natural sciences hang “in the air” (Bowler, 1983; 2008) prior to their consummation. While neo-Darwinist biology has been powerfully served by its mechanistic metaphysic and a reductionist methodology in which living organisms are considered machines, many of the chapters in this volume place this paradigm into question. Pairing scientists and philosophers together, this volume explores what might be termed “the New Frontiers” of biology, namely contemporary areas of research that appear to call an updating, a supplementation, or a relaxation of some of the main tenets of the Modern Synthesis. Such areas of investigation include: Emergence Theory, Systems Biology, Biosemiotics, Homeostasis, Symbiogenesis, Niche Construction, the Theory of Organic Selection (also known as “the Baldwin Effect”), Self-Organization and Teleodynamics, as well as Epigenetics. Most of the chapters in this book offer critical reflections on the neo-Darwinist outlook and work to promote a novel synthesis that is open to a greater degree of inclusivity as well as to a more holistic orientation in the biological sciences.

The Black Box of Biology

The Black Box of Biology
Author: Michel Morange
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 529
Release: 2020-06-09
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0674281365
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In this masterful account, a historian of science surveys the molecular biology revolution, its origin and continuing impact. Since the 1930s, a molecular vision has been transforming biology. Michel Morange provides an incisive and overarching history of this transformation, from the early attempts to explain organisms by the structure of their chemical components, to the birth and consolidation of genetics, to the latest technologies and discoveries enabled by the new science of life. Morange revisits A History of Molecular Biology and offers new insights from the past twenty years into his analysis. The Black Box of Biology shows that what led to the incredible transformation of biology was not a simple accumulation of new results, but the molecularization of a large part of biology. In fact, Morange argues, the greatest biological achievements of the past few decades should still be understood within the molecular paradigm. What has happened is not the displacement of molecular biology by other techniques and avenues of research, but rather the fusion of molecular principles and concepts with those of other disciplines, including genetics, physics, structural chemistry, and computational biology. This has produced decisive changes, including the discoveries of regulatory RNAs, the development of massive scientific programs such as human genome sequencing, and the emergence of synthetic biology, systems biology, and epigenetics. Original, persuasive, and breathtaking in its scope, The Black Box of Biology sets a new standard for the history of the ongoing molecular revolution.

Cut-and-Paste Genetics

Cut-and-Paste Genetics
Author: Sahotra Sarkar
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2021-09-15
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1786614391
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The emergence of CRISPR/Cas9 technology has revolutionized gene editing. The Nobel prize for chemistry was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, the scientists responsible for its discovery, in 2020 and it is considered the frontier of sophisticated medical science. This technology contains the promise that both gene therapy and eugenic control of human evolution is possible, even plausible, in our near future. This book looks at these developements in the context of the history of previous social and scientific attempts at genetic editing, and explores the policy and ethical challenges they raise. It presents the case for altering the human germ-line (which contains and controls hereditary genetic information) to eliminate a large number of genetic diseases controlled by a single or few genes, while pointing out that gene therapy is likely to be ineffective for diseases with more complex causes. In parallel it explores the possibility of genetic enhancement in a set of case studies. But it also argues that, in general, genetic enhancement is ethically problematic and should be approached with caution. Given the success of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and the explosion of related techniques, in practice it would be virtually impossible to ban germ-line editing in our future. A more useful goal is to put regulation in place, with oversight that represents the interests of society. That, in turn, requires an informed public discussion of these issues, which is the intention of this book.

Our Vision For Liberation

Our Vision For Liberation
Author: Ramzy Baroud
Publisher: SCB Distributors
Total Pages: 490
Release: 2022-03-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1949762459
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"This is a fascinating, great book." -- ROGER WATERS, founding member, Pink Floyd "These moving visions of a decolonized, democratic and free Palestine will resonate wherever collective yearnings for freedom have survived. Palestinian intellectuals, activists, and artists are a beacon both for the future of Palestine and the destiny of our globe." -- ANGELA DAVIS "Read this book and you will be strengthened and inspired. It’s a death knell to the Zionist fantasy and imperialist domination." -- RONNIE KASSRILS, South African anti-apartheid icon Our Vision for Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out aims to challenge several strata of the current Palestine discourse that have led to the present dead end: the American pro-Israel political discourse, the Israeli colonial discourse, the Arab discourse of purported normalization, and the defunct discourse of the Palestinian factions. None promote justice, none have brought resolution; none bode well for any of the parties involved. Here, an alternative Palestinian view of liberation and decolonization is provided by engaged Palestinian leaders and intellectuals, those who been actively involved in generating an ongoing Palestinian discourse on liberation, taking into account the parameters of their struggle as it now stands. Drawing on their own remarkable personal experiences and successes -- as archaeologists, artists, authors, community leaders, educators, filmmakers, historians, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, spiritual leaders, political prisoners, and the like -- they address what now, what next, is to be done, in a manner that reflects not only Palestinian aspirations, but their view of what is possible. 'Liberation' is a term that was dropped from the official Palestinian lexicon simply because it was incompatible with the US-championed political discourse, but it has resurfaced here because without its justice dimensions, there can be no peace. Now that the international community is able to see that Oslo, along with the 'two-state solution' model, has irreversibly failed, the paradigmatic void has opened space for the articulation of new possibilities. Our Vision for Liberation embraces this opportunity to introduce a new Palestinian discourse, one that is able to address current challenges and obstacles to Palestinian rights and freedom, and provide diverse paths, all leading forward