The most recommended genetic engineering books

When I read Michael Crichton’s Next, my first thought was that we’re entering a dangerous time with our ability to manipulate the genomes of many different species.

The central message is about the possible negative ramifications of manipulating the DNA of humans and other animal species and even the creation of transspecies. Crichton leads us through diverse stories of corporate greed to the life and death struggles of others just wanting a cure for cancer.

Crichton does a masterful job of tying the different agendas into a compelling, interwoven narrative. 

This is a new dystopian matriarchal novel, first in a series, that I’ve just discovered. Interestingly, it’s been described as the opposite of The Handmaid’s Tale.

The story is of a female-controlled society in which men are kept imprisoned and used as breeders. Neen, a female scientist who is interviewing men for their potential as sperm donors, begins to question the status quo when some of the men she meets don’t fit her preconceptions.

I was attracted to the book because its story is comparable to my book, but the tone and world-building are completely different. I loved the plot twists and the focus on ethical dilemmas.

I originally picked up this book because I really like the author. Seanan McGuire never disappoints. Parasite is part one of a series, and is a completely fresh take on what some people might call zombies (although there is a lot of room for speculation there). The characters were compelling, and the plot kept me reading when I should have been doing countless other things. I love everything I’ve ever read by McGuire (alternate pen name Mira Grant), and this book was no different.

Many assert that “science is outpacing ethics.”

In my book I argue that this claim is false and disingenuous. Consider this one example. Forty years ago, Glover anticipated the myriad ways in which genetic and neuro technologies might “change the central framework of human life.”

In this prescient book, Glover anticipates the use of genetic engineering and advocates caution as well as gradualness. Avoiding the risk of irreversible disaster is a priority. Glover outlines the drawbacks of centralized decision-making as well as the problems with piecemeal, short-term decision-making.

He enjoins us to reflect on what sort of people there should be and what sort of future we should try to bring about. My own work focuses on what kind of world we want to live in and, as such, we are kindred spirits.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading James Patterson’s and Neil McMahon’s Toys.

Patterson doesn’t delve into science fiction often, but when he does, thought-provoking ideas are present that question the social consequences of those imaginary worlds. In Toys, Genetic Elites rule and ordinary humans being the subjugated class.

The Elite Agent of Change, Baker, thinks he’s an Elite only to learn that he’s an ordinary human. He searches for his true origins while being hunted by the very Elites he protected from ordinary humans.

This novel is even more compelling today than when was written due to the advancement of Artificial Intelligence and Genetic Engineering.

A plausible prophetic future for those willing to listen.

Shards of Earth is a rip-roaring science fiction adventure story full of the things I love.

A rag-tag space salvage crew trying to survive and maybe profit against a backdrop of war and invasion finds themselves at the very center of events with the fate of humanity in the balance. There are vast, inscrutable alien death machines wrecking whole planets for reasons nobody can figure out. It even has weird human societies and weirder extraterrestrials.

It's a great space opera with vivid characters, amazing but plausible technology, and a grand scope.

This book is light on hope, but if you’re on the hunt for cli-fi dystopias, Oryx and Crake is a must-read.

The novel’s protagonist, Snowman (previously known as Jimmy), finds himself alone (sort of) after a global societal collapse. His story unfolds on either side of this collapse as he searches for answers about what has happened to the world and why.

This book brings together runaway climate change, an apocalyptic pandemic, uncontrolled genetic engineering, mass extinction, and more, dealing with nostalgia for what’s been lost and reckoning with each person’s individual culpability for that loss. And yet it somehow manages to also be a thrilling puzzle box of a story that ends on a note of cautious hope.

I’m a geek for a good undercover story because of the constant underlying tension. Place that undercover story in an alternate world, and you’ve got my attention! Leviathan takes place in Scott Westerfeld's fabulous re-imagining of the events surrounding WWI. It’s a world where the secrets of DNA were discovered far earlier and put to use as natural “machinery.”

Our star is Deryn Sharp, one of my favorite middle-grade heroines. She’s a commoner disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman, brave and fearless and clever… and living in constant fear someone will discover her secret. Even so, she faces conflict head-on and is quick on her feet.

She fights on the side of the Darwinists, using extraordinary genetically altered creatures, against the Clankers and their steampunk-style weaponry. They’re no match for Deryn, though, as she saves the day again and again with her mind… show more.

Sally Smith Hughes' highly readable tale of the genesis of Genentech provides a no-holds-barred look into the gritty details of how biotech firms are born. Hughes reveals how scientists, lawyers, and venture capitalists work together and collide in a crucible of competing disciplines and desires to produce transformative advances. For those interesting in biotech entrepreneurship or simply investing in biotech, this book offers key foundational insights into the industry.

A planet in its equivalent of the stone age is passing through a galactic debris field. An alien stargazer realizes that sooner or later some object will strike the planet and destroy it. The only hope of survival his species has is to leave the planet before that happens. But the concept is a mere abstraction to his people, the equivalent of a Neanderthal saying “we need to travel to the moon,” and the task is further complicated by the fact that their technology is biological in nature, focused on the manipulation of living tissue. It is hard to imagine how such technology could ever produce a spaceship. 

The novel--structured as a series of novellas-- follows the development of a fascinating alien species from its primitive roots to an age of high technology, each chapter focusing on a different time period. Always the stargazer’s warning is proclaimed by a few… show more.