Rating: 
Summary: Tinkering with the atom - now tinkering with human DNA...
Review: Dr. Michael West is a brilliant man in search of high tech ways to cure catastrophic diseases & pathologies - such as type I Diabetes, Quadriplegia, cancer and heart damage from heart attacks. All noble quests to benefit mankind. The only problem with this is that along with the potential to help mankind with regenerative medicine concepts, therein lies another darker potential. The corruptability of such an endeaver, and yes, there are always those equally brilliant scientists out there who are willing to tweak the bad that generates from the good.
West goes into vague detail explaining what stem cells are, and what the science can acheive in medicine, and cloning. I wish he went into further depth giving examples and photos of what he witnessed under the microscope. If he would have included some slides, I would have given the book a 5 star rating instead of the 4. It is a good book that gives readers a taste of this controversial topic. He further explains how Dolly the sheep came to be in this world, and yes, the sheep was named after Dolly Parton, the country singer, because the sheep was cloned out of a cell from the breast tissue of another sheep.
All this research into the mortal cell costs millions, perhaps billions of dollars, $$$, but in the end, the goal is not to prolong life forever. It's really to maintain the quality of life for all, especially the aged. Dr. West is very compassionate towards the elderly in our world, and it's good to see that somebody is passionate about curing the ails that often accompany old age.
One question that I have for Dr. West is what should the average life expectancy be for people? 100? 110?
Curing hearing and sight loss, kidney failure, liver failure are all good things that could come from recombinant DNA therapy.
But the dark side could promote supernatural human beings; turning engineered cells into engineered people. These 'superpeople' can potentially outthink, outperform and ultimately - wipe out the current natural human race that we have spent millions of years evolving into. If these cloned people reproduced with regular human beings, something called germ-line genetic modification, something terribly wrong could happen. This is one of the kind Doctor's admitted fears.
Our standard of living would become too high to sustain or even achieve. It would create many insurmountable problems the world has never known.
Tinkering with the atom in the Manhatten Project ultimately brought us terrorism as we know it today. Could those brilliant scientists not see the disaster behind the discovery?
Now our modern scientists are tinkering with the human genome project. It is mapped out and published. Scientists such as Dr. West wish to exploit this important and exciting discovery to help mankind, but we must be wary of the ever present dark side of all good creations.
Are we ready to make this scientific leap?
Read the book and ponder the answer...I have no answers at this point---the book contains arguments both ways, but leans towards the pro and dismisses the con pretty blantantly.
Nonetheless, it is a very interesting read, and contains somewhat technical ideas in it, which only encourages me to further research the topic of theraputic cloning and stem cell research.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and Passionate
Review: Excellent reicital of one scientist's search for the means to prolong human life. I found it to be a very good introduction to concepts such as stem cells and telomerase - areas I had only vague knowledge. But the best part of the book is its description of Dr. West's passion for ending human death and mortality. Dr. West echoes many thoughts I have had myself - man does not want to die! Despite the narrow minded opposition of obsolete religious teachings, science will find the way to overcome and we will reach one of mankind most long soughts yearnings. Perhaps we will lose part of our humanity in doing so, but in my opinion it will be a transformational change that takes us to the next level of life. This book describes one possible approach on this journey.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and Passionate
Review: Excellent reicital of one scientist's search for the means to prolong human life. I found it to be a very good introduction to concepts such as stem cells and telomerase - areas I had only vague knowledge. But the best part of the book is its description of Dr. West's passion for ending human death and mortality. Dr. West echoes many thoughts I have had myself - man does not want to die! Despite the narrow minded opposition of obsolete religious teachings, science will find the way to overcome and we will reach one of mankind most long soughts yearnings. Perhaps we will lose part of our humanity in doing so, but in my opinion it will be a transformational change that takes us to the next level of life. This book describes one possible approach on this journey.
Rating:
Summary: Great book.....hope he writes another!
Review: I wasn't sure if I would get "into" this book or not, but I found it hard to put down at the end of the lunch break or at night. Very interesting and the good doc describes even the most complex science in terms that are easy to understand-without making the reader feel like a dummy! I wish President Bush and other lawmakers would take the time to read this book to get the facts behind the science before making any more legislation regarding stem cell research.
Rating:
Summary: Great book.....hope he writes another!
Review: I wasn't sure if I would get "into" this book or not, but I found it hard to put down at the end of the lunch break or at night. Very interesting and the good doc describes even the most complex science in terms that are easy to understand-without making the reader feel like a dummy! I wish President Bush and other lawmakers would take the time to read this book to get the facts behind the science before making any more legislation regarding stem cell research.
Rating:
Summary: A good and easy read that opens perspectives
Review: In The Immortal Cell, Michael D. West tells about his lifelong search for solutions to aging and age-related illnesses.
West's quest starts with an ideal of compassion: if we can help it, why should we keep suffering from Alzheimer, Parkinson, macular degeneration, atherosclerosis, and so many illnesses associated with aging?
West first thought religion and the bible would provide him with answers to his questions about life and death. One is surprised that a bright young man with a scientific mind would have fallen for creationism for as long a period of time as ten years, but West finally recognized that creationism does not resist serious analysis and that at the end of the 20th century, it is just nonsense. Because of this however West has kept a certain understanding for the point of view of the more conservative religious parties.
West then tells of the scientific quest, amidst fierce competition between scientists and even corporations, to understand the mechanics of cellular aging: the discovery of the importance of telomeres, those chromosome ends that turn out to be associated with the cellular clock; the discovery of telomerase, the enzyme able to repair telomeres; the discovery of the tight relationship of such research with cancer research; the first experiments to rewind the cellular clock by implanting somatic cells DNA into egg cells; the cloning of the first mammals; and the experiments to produce embryonic stem sells in vitro, from somatic DNA and egg cells.
The most important result is the proof that cellular aging is not a fatality, as one could have thought initially: it is caused by a mechanism that we are now able to somewhat tweak. From there, there are two main therapeutic perspectives. First, the idea of fixing the aging cells of the body. A lot of research remains to be done in this area. So far, nobody has managed to find a mechanism to reliably deliver a fix to a significant number of cells, and the fix itself has yet to be developed. Second, the idea that any somatic cell can be used to produce embryonic stem cells. This opens the door to building tissues and even entire organs in vitro. Such tissues and organs could be then grafted to the donor without risk of rejection. The perspectives go from implanting skin and bone marrow cells to finding a cure for diabetes and atheroscleriosis. Ultimately, it may allow for entire organ replacement.
West is probably a better scientist than philosopher, but in the last chapter of the book, he makes a good case for therapeutic cloning, including addressing some religious questions regarding "life" with very sound arguments.
The Immortal Cell is a good and easy read. I had fairly high expectations about it because it was very well rated online, and I was a little disappointed by several aspects of the book. West could have communicated even better the excitement this research should generate. He neglects related developments such as the impact nanotechnology research could have.
He also fails to address exciting but disruptive perspectives. If in fact cellular therapy becomes one day mainstream, there is a clear possibility that humans could see their life expectancy increase dramatically, from about 80 years today in developed countries to... 100? 120? 150? 200? 1000? The social impact of such a change would be enormous. It is quite possible that West does not wish to speculate about such subjects so as not to disrupt current research. After all, his own work has put him in the middle of the controversy about research on human embryonic stem cells and human cloning.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Michael West is a controversial scientist with a single quest: to conquer the process and reverse the damage caused by human aging. This book explains his journey, which has generated such a furore a recent newspaper headline compared him to Bin Laden.Biotechnology has always polarised the public. But tinkering with human DNA and unborn embryos is certain to create as many critics as those who endorse its therapeutic potential. This book offers an excellent review of the genesis and potential of cloning as a means of regenerating damaged tissue, and the ethical issues that stand in its way. It's well pitched, summaries the major developments in gerontology (aging research) and explains the fascinating relationship between aging, cancer and disease. I found it progressively more intriguing with each chapter.
Rating:
Summary: WOW...what an illuminating read!
Review: Such a fascinating look into the competitive world of scientific discovery and the breakthroughs that are being uncovered every minute behind closed doors. I love when he gets really technical into the science of the telomere and how this research can both help explain the immortal nature of cancer cells as well as the mortal nature of somatic cells. Shows how truly groundbreaking stem cell research can be (reverting mortal cells into immortal embryonic ones)! GREAT READ and highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: WELL WRITTEN!
Review: This book is an excellent foray into the world of longevity research and cellular study. I, as a layman, never lost the focus of the author's intent. I hope we do not have to wait to long for his next book.
Rating:
Summary: WELL WRITTEN!
Review: This book is an excellent foray into the world of longevity research and cellular study. I, as a layman, never lost the focus of the author's intent. I hope we do not have to wait to long for his next book.
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