The Global Genome

The Global Genome
Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
Total Pages : 450
Release :
ISBN-10 : 0262250306
ISBN-13 : 9780262250306
Rating : 4/5 (306 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Global Genome by : Eugene Thacker

Download or read book The Global Genome written by Eugene Thacker and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2006-09-08 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How global biotechnology is redefining "life itself." In the age of global biotechnology, DNA can exist as biological material in a test tube, as a sequence in a computer database, and as economically valuable information in a patent. In The Global Genome, Eugene Thacker asks us to consider the relationship of these three entities and argues that—by their existence and their interrelationships—they are fundamentally redefining the notion of biological life itself. Biological science and the biotech industry are increasingly organized at a global level, in large part because of the use of the Internet in exchanging biological data. International genome sequencing efforts, genomic databases, the development of World Intellectual Property policies, and the "borderless" business of biotech are all evidence of the global intersections of biology and informatics—of genetic codes and computer codes. Thacker points out the internal tension in the very concept of biotechnology: the products are more "tech" than "bio," but the technology itself is fully biological, composed of the biomaterial labor of genes, proteins, cells, and tissues. Is biotechnology a technology at all, he asks, or is it a notion of "life itself" that is inseparable from its use in the biotech industry? The three sections of the book cover the three primary activities of biotechnology today: the encoding of biological materials into digital form—as in bioinformatics and genomics; its recoding in various ways—including the "biocolonialism" of mapping genetically isolated ethnic populations and the newly pervasive concern over "biological security"; and its decoding back into biological materiality—as in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Thacker moves easily from science to philosophy to political economics, enlivening his account with ideas from such thinkers as Georges Bataille, Georges Canguilhem, Michel Foucault, Antonio Negri, and Paul Virilio. The "global genome," says Thacker, makes it impossible to consider biotechnology without the context of globalism.


The Global Genome Related Books

The Global Genome
Language: en
Pages: 450
Authors: Eugene Thacker
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2006-09-08 - Publisher: MIT Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

How global biotechnology is redefining "life itself." In the age of global biotechnology, DNA can exist as biological material in a test tube, as a sequence in
Heritable Human Genome Editing
Language: en
Pages: 239
Authors: The Royal Society
Categories: Medical
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-01-16 - Publisher: National Academies Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Heritable human genome editing - making changes to the genetic material of eggs, sperm, or any cells that lead to their development, including the cells of earl
Human Genome Editing
Language: en
Pages: 329
Authors: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Categories: Medical
Type: BOOK - Published: 2017-08-13 - Publisher: National Academies Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Genome editing is a powerful new tool for making precise alterations to an organism's genetic material. Recent scientific advances have made genome editing more
The New Science of Metagenomics
Language: en
Pages: 170
Authors: National Research Council
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2007-06-24 - Publisher: National Academies Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although we can't usually see them, microbes are essential for every part of human life-indeed all life on Earth. The emerging field of metagenomics offers a ne
The Code Breaker
Language: en
Pages: 560
Authors: Walter Isaacson
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-03-09 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a “compel