"Wondergenes not only imagines a future world in which genetic enhancement is the norm, but asserts that this future has already begun. What happens, for example, when gene therapy becomes gene enhancement? Who will benefit and who might be left behind? What are the costs to our values and beliefs, and to our future?

To answer these questions, Mehlman provides an overview of the scientific advances that have led to the present state of genetic enhancement and explains how these advances could be used in the future to redefine what we think of as a normal human being.

He explores the ethical dilemmas already facing researchers and medical practitioners - the dilemmas we all will be expected to face - and weighs the social and economic costs of the many proposals to regulate or limit genetic engineering."--Jacket.