How Much Risk Can We Risk?

Posted by Don Hazen at 6:58 PM on December 22, 2006.

Intervention: Confronting The Real Risks of Genetic Engineering And Life On A Biotech Planet, a new book by former NY Times business columnist Denise Caruso, aims to get ahead of the curve regarding how vulnerable we are making ourselves as a species, hurtling forward at breakneck speed with all number of biotech creations and mutations.

Caruso's book is just emerging, and she recently received a strong testimonial from Steven Johnson, one of the very smartest of interdisciplanary thinkers and technologists, who always seems to have his eye on both important tech advances and the ramifications. He writes about Caruso's book on his blog: With ... "as crucial an issue as, say, genetically modified food, Intervention is wrestling with an even more profound question: how we measure and anticipate risk with such complex, open-ended technologies. Denise makes it clear how "spectacularly nearsighted" we tend to be when evaluating radical new advances. And when we're meddling with the primary forces of nature -- to quote Ned Beatty's speech from Network -- we can't afford to be nearsighted. Fortunately, we have people like Denise Caruso to improve our vision."

Look for a full interview with Caruso early in 2007 on AlterNet conducted by Manager editor Heather Gehlert. Go to hybridvigor.org/intervention to order the book.

(Denise Caruso is a member of the board of the Independent Media Institute, the parent organization of AlterNet.)

Tagged as: risk, biotech, nanotech, genetically modified, genetic modification, genetic engineering

Don Hazen is the executive editor of AlterNet.