Embryo Politics

Banchoff's historical outline of these debates over embryo research and use is accurate and engaging, showing clearly how the different political backgrounds against which they took place shaped their later contours. He also addresses the difficult moral questions surrounding the moral status of embryos, how the law should respond to this status, and how these questions intersect with the need for biomedical progress where such 'progress depends on research on embryos. This is a very clear, well-written, engaging volume, and one that could be read with profit and interest by anyone curious about what is one of the most pressing debates of the moment. Summing Up: Highly recommended for all readership levels. -Choice (January 2012) As Thomas Banchoff notes in Embryo Politics, 'the human embryo only slowly emerged as an object of ethical controversy.' This lucid and well-written book relates a comparative history of this controversy in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, and France. -Simon Cole, Technology and Culture (April 2013) Banchoff does not fall prey to the allures of science fiction and he avoids sensationalism, but his book is sensational. It is an exciting read and should generate a great deal of public interest because it sets out with clarity the many strands, both ethical and political, that make up in vitro fertilization (IVF), stem cell research and cloning. -Gail Grossman Freyne, Conscience (Vol. XXXIII-No. 1, 2012) In Embryo Politics, Thomas Banchoff summarizes a very large amount of data to make a cohesive argument about embryo debates in four countries over forty years. It is a masterly accomplishment. -John H. Evans, UC San Diego Commentators have often noted that debates about embryo research are inherently political, but before now we have had no reliable guide to the contours and history of this politics. Thomas Banchoff has produced the definitive work, not only on embryo politics but also on the politics of bioethics generally. We are all in his debt. -Richard Ashcroft, Professor of Bioethics, Queen Mary, University of London, editor of Principles of Health Care Ethics