Chips, Clones, and Living Beyond 100: How Far Will the Biosciences Take Us? by Paul J. H. Schoemaker, Joyce A. Schoemaker

Product Details

Synopsis

The key scientific discoveries of the 21st century will emerge from the biosciences. These discoveries will impact our lives in ways we can only now begin to imagine. In this book, two of the field's leading experts help us imagine those impacts. Paul and Joyce A. Schoemaker tour the remarkable field of biosciences as it stands today, and preview the directions and innovations that are most likely to emerge in the coming years. They offer a clear, non-technical overview of crucial current developments that are likely to have enormous impact, and address issues ranging from increased human longevity to global warming, bio-warfare to personalized medicine. Along the way, they illuminate each of the exciting technologies and hot-button issues associated with contemporary biotechnology - including stem cells, cloning, probiotics, DNA microarrays, proteomics, gene therapy, and a whole lot more. The Schoemakers identify emerging economic, political, and technical drivers and obstacles that are likely to powerfully impact the way the biosciences progress. Then, drawing on Paul Schoemaker's unsurpassed experience helping global organizations prepare for the future, the authors sketch multiple long-term scenarios for the biosciences - and reveal how they will impact your health, family, career, society, even the Earth itself.

Publishers Weekly

Technology scholar Paul and microbiology researcher Joyce Schoemaker review "the scientific and technological forces that make living beyond 100 possible, as well as the economic, social, and political obstacles that might stand in the way," which they believe "will shape the world between now and the year 2025." This bioscience tour begins with a brief history of medicine, from the discovery of hygiene through the discovery of DNA, to cloning and biotechnology, delving into the biomedicine industry of today and in several visions of the future. In fluid language, the scientists discuss medical advances including gene testing and therapy, medical sensors and devices, and vaccine technologies, emphasizing the components of a successful technology with regard to economics, ethics, regulations, infrastructure, and investment. Uncertainties about the rapidly emerging field's future come up in questions like, "How much do we really want to know about our health, especially when it is unclear how much we can alter it?" This concise, accessible overview will most appeal to those working outside the field, including investors, medical professionals and engineers, as well as those seeking a biomedicine career.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Biography

Paul Schoemaker is Research Director of the Mack Center for Technological Innovation at the Wharton School. He is founder and chairman of Decision Strategies International, Inc., a consulting and training firm specializing in strategic planning and executive development. He has written over 70 academic and applied papers, and co-author or editor of several books including Wharton On Managing Emerging Technologies, Winning Decisions, and Profiting from Uncertainty. He has worked closely with Royal/Dutch Shell's scenario planning group, and over 100 other organizations.

Joyce A. Schoemaker is a biotech consultant and biology course instructor.