Altering the Blueprint (Unabridged) [Portable Professor]

Reproduction is a process fundamental to every known species, so it is no surprise that human beings, perhaps the most self-reflective of all species, spend so much time thinking about the implications of creating life anew. In this intriguing series of lectures, Professor Alexander McCall Smith explores the startling, and occasionally unsettling, ethical choices that humans face now that medical technology has made it possible to guide the hand of creation with increasing levels of precision and purpose.

Alexander McCall Smith is a man of many and varied talents. He is Professor of Medical Law at Scotland's University of Edinburgh as well as Vice-Chairman of the Human Genetics Commission of the United Kingdom, and, especially in the latter capacity, is in worldwide demand as a speaker. He is also a prolific author, not just of highly regarded academic texts in his field, but of children's books and of the best-selling series about Precious Ramotswe, the proprietress of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency.