Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

How to grow a human

Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextLanguage: English Publication details: London London William Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2019Description: xi, 372 pages ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 9780008331788
Subject(s): Online resources:
Contents:
Introduction: My brain in a dish Chapter 1. Pieces of life : Cells past and present-- Chapter 2. What love has to do with it : Growing humans the old-fashioned way-- First Interlude. The human superorganism : How cells became communities-- Chapter 3. Immortal flesh : How tissues were grown outside the body-- Second Interlude. Heroes and villains : The microbiome, immunity and cancer-- Chapter 4. Twisting fate : How to reprogramme a cell-- Chapter 5. The spare parts factory : Making tissues and organs from reprogrammed cells-- Chapter 6. Flesh of my flesh : Questioning the future of sex and reproduction-- Chapter 7. Hideous progeny? The futures of growing humans-- Third Interlude. Philosophy of the lonely mind : Can a brain exist in a dish?-- Chapter 8. Return of the meatware : Coming to terms with our fleshy selves.--
Summary: ; A cutting-edge examination of what it means to be human and to have a 'self' in the face of new scientific developments in cloning, gene-splicing and neural downloading. After seeing his own cells used to grow clumps of new neurons - essentially mini-brains - Philip Ball begins to examine the concepts of identity and consciousness. Delving into humanity's deep evolutionary past to look at how complex creatures like us emerged from single-celled life, he offers a new perspective on how humans think about ourselves. In an age when we are increasingly encouraged to regard the 'self' as an abstract sequence of genetic information, or as a pattern of neural activity that might be 'downloaded' to a computer, I return us to the body - to flesh and blood - and anchor a conception of personhood in this unique and ephemeral mortal coil. How to Build a Human brings us back to ourselves - but in doing so, it challenges old preconceptions and values. It asks us to rethink how we exist in the world.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Status Date due Barcode
Book TBS Barcelona Libre acceso R857.T55 BAL (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available B02256

Introduction: My brain in a dish Chapter 1. Pieces of life : Cells past and present-- Chapter 2. What love has to do with it : Growing humans the old-fashioned way-- First Interlude. The human superorganism : How cells became communities-- Chapter 3. Immortal flesh : How tissues were grown outside the body-- Second Interlude. Heroes and villains : The microbiome, immunity and cancer-- Chapter 4. Twisting fate : How to reprogramme a cell-- Chapter 5. The spare parts factory : Making tissues and organs from reprogrammed cells-- Chapter 6. Flesh of my flesh : Questioning the future of sex and reproduction-- Chapter 7. Hideous progeny? The futures of growing humans-- Third Interlude. Philosophy of the lonely mind : Can a brain exist in a dish?-- Chapter 8. Return of the meatware : Coming to terms with our fleshy selves.--

; A cutting-edge examination of what it means to be human and to have a 'self' in the face of new scientific developments in cloning, gene-splicing and neural downloading. After seeing his own cells used to grow clumps of new neurons - essentially mini-brains - Philip Ball begins to examine the concepts of identity and consciousness. Delving into humanity's deep evolutionary past to look at how complex creatures like us emerged from single-celled life, he offers a new perspective on how humans think about ourselves. In an age when we are increasingly encouraged to regard the 'self' as an abstract sequence of genetic information, or as a pattern of neural activity that might be 'downloaded' to a computer, I return us to the body - to flesh and blood - and anchor a conception of personhood in this unique and ephemeral mortal coil. How to Build a Human brings us back to ourselves - but in doing so, it challenges old preconceptions and values. It asks us to rethink how we exist in the world.

Powered by Koha