Our Transgenic Future

Book excerpt: "Genetic modification, especially in regards to the creation of transgenic animals, has long been a source of controversy, fear, and fascination. Our Transgenic Future explores the creation, the ethical ramifications, and the symbolic resonances of one particular transgenic invention: a goat that creates spider silk. Lisa Jean Moore's new work draws from years of ethnographic research as well as her personal experiences with genetic engineering in the form of reproduction through artificial insemination. Her book provides an in depth look at the birth of the spider goat, chronicling its creation chapter by chapter. However, the animal is constantly connected to a variety of larger themes, including humanity's reciprocal interaction with nature, the figure of the "mad scientist," and the experience of aging and obsolescence"--