Shrinking the Cat : Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes
by Hubbell, Sue
- Used
- first
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
West Brattleboro, Vermont, United States
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About This Item
Houghton Mifflin, 2001. First edition. Fine and bright in like pictorial dustjacket with crisp bright text throughout. Nicely illustrated and handsome all around
Synopsis
We humans have been tinkering with genes for a long, long time. In Shrinking the Cat, Sue Hubbell shows how this tinkering is the definition of humanness by telling the stories of four important species we created. She tells how we made cats easier to live with by making them smaller and their brains less complicated, taking out much of the alertness that natural selection had packed in. How ancient farmers turned a wild grass into corn, a tremendously important crop that can't live without us. How silkworms were smuggled from China to the West and bred to be completely dependent on us. How silk traders picked up wild apples in their travels and how we manipulated the apple's complex genetics to grow only the best-tasting ones - and then made them taste worse. Today's tools are new, but we were engineering genes even before we knew about them, and we made some mistakes along the way. For example, the gypsy moths that regularly defoliate trees arrived through efforts to breed silkworms suitable to North America. Genetic engineering is controversial today. Some see it as a source of great benefit and great profits; others see it as a nightmare. Sue Hubbell shows that if we ignore our own history, pretending that genetic engineering is something completely new and dangerous, we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Longhouse, Publishers and Booksellers
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 52126
- Title
- Shrinking the Cat : Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes
- Author
- Hubbell, Sue
- Book Condition
- Used
- Edition
- First edition
- Publisher
- Houghton Mifflin, 2001
Terms of Sale
Longhouse, Publishers and Booksellers
All orders shipped within 24-48 hours. We accept returns if the description does not agree with the online book details. Please notify us before returning. Thank you! We appreciate your business. Any inquiries are promptly responded to.
About the Seller
Longhouse, Publishers and Booksellers
Biblio member since 2006
West Brattleboro, Vermont
About Longhouse, Publishers and Booksellers
We are publishers and booksellers since 1971, specializing in modern poetry and literary editions including the arts. In addition, we publish poetry and feature these works on our web-site.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Crisp
- A term often used to indicate a book's new-like condition. Indicates that the hinges are not loosened. A book described as crisp...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
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