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In Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood flexes her literary muscles to take a swing at the science of genetics. Her message is that genetics dabbles in things that are unnatural and creepy and will surely get us into a lot of trouble. In this view she sides with other writers in the popular media.
The plot, simply put, is that in a not-too-distant future, misguided geneticists led by a modern Dr Frankenstein, Crake, use the latest technology to create some pretty weird animals and some even weirder people, and eventually bring an end to the world as we know it by making a new virus to which there is no resistance. Crake begins his meddling ways as a student at the prestigious Watson-Crick Institute, named after the real men who received the Nobel Prize for deducing the structure of DNA in 1953. At WCI, the students spend their time tinkering with life forms to come up with marketable new ideas. Crake's devilry culminates later in his career during his tenure at RejoovenEsence Corporation. Peripheral to this plot are two other main characters, the enigmatic love interest Oryx, and the shallow sidekick Jimmy (alias Snowman). Unfortunately, despite the satellite status of these two people, their histories are explained in lengthy and sometimes irritating detail. We hear that Oryx, for example, was sold into slavery and suffered abuse by pedophiles; her story forms a long and irrelevant subplot.
To me this book seems to have a strong message about science (specifically genetics) and is not to be treated as pure fantasy. This impression is shared by Susan M. Squier, reviewer of Oryx and Crake for Science (November 14, 2003), who entitled her piece "A tale meant to inform, not to amuse." If Oryx and Crake is to be taken as serious commentary, then it should stand up to some reality checks about its science. But first, a criticism of the overall approach of the book. It uses genetic engineering as a lightning rod for wrath aimed at the negative outcomes of science in general. However, picking on genetics is inappropriate and misleading. Negative outcomes are possible from any technology, including genetics, and there is no doubt that science and society must be vigilant in trying to anticipate...