Therapeutic Cloning Debate

Eric A. Jensen is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick, UK and co-editor of Culture and Social Change: Transforming Society through Power of Ideas.

• Contents: Introduction; The struggle to define therapeutic cloning; Human cloning before Dolly; Epochal change in the contemporary human cloning debate; Therapeutic cloning science in the global risk society; Mediating scientific risk in the public sphere; The role of science journalism; Previous research on human cloning in the media; Scientific utopianism and balanced hype; Scientific dystopianism, balanced hype and haphazard hype; The role of science fiction in scientific dystopianism; Scientific nationalism; Sources: the raw materials of science news; Framing the science: the role of scientists in the mediated public sphere; Science politics from below: patient advocates and anti-abortion activists enter the fray; Science politics from below: anti-abortion groups ascend as the leading opposition; The ethical experts: professional bioethicists in the therapeutic cloning debate; Mediating public engagement: promises and problems; Conclusion; Appendix; Index.

’Cloning has a long history in science and fiction. This book is the first to investigate thoroughly and critically the journalistic practices that go into producing and debating the scientific controversies surrounding therapeutic cloning. It should be read by anybody interested in the role of the media in science and society in general and science communication in particular.’ Brigitte Nerlich, University of Nottingham, UK '... this book offers insight into decisions about how and what news get covered. It is a very well researched volume, providing a concrete snapshot for a particular controversial medical issue.' Ethics & Medicine