Human Cloning in the Media

This just in: Human Cloning in the Media by Joan Haran, Jenny Kitzinger, Maureen McNeil, and Kate O'Riodan, is hot off the press. This book provides an intensive exploration of recent popular representations of human cloning and genomics and the complex concerns evoked by these, and is a timely contribution to current debates about the public communication of science and a challenging investigation of what is at stake, culturally and politically, in those debates.

This book examines the making of human cloning as an imaginary practice and scientific fact. It explores the controversies surrounding both ‘therapeutic cloning’ for stem cell research and ‘reproductive’ cloning. The authors analyse the cultural production of cloning, how practices and representations play out in the global arena, and its transformation from science fiction to science practice. Case studies are used to illustrate key fore grounded issues:

• the image of the scientist, scientific expertise and institutions
• the governance of science
• the representation of women’s bodies as the subjects and objects of biotechnology
• the constitution of publics, both as objects of media debate, and as their intended audience.

Drawing together the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge, with insights from media and cultural studies, this book offers a timely contribution to debates about the public communication of science and the status of scientific truth. This book will be a valuable companion to students on undergraduate courses in media studies, science communication, cultural studies, science and technology studies and sociology.

For more information about this exciting new book, including a table of contents, or to order a copy, go here. It will likely appeal to anyone interested in the relationship between science fiction and science.