The gene has become a cultural icon and an increasingly rich source of imagery and ideas for visual artists. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary painting and sculpture, The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age explores the moral and bioethical questions these works address. What does it mean to be human? What is ?identity? in a society of genetically manipulated individuals? Questions like these are growing louder as genetic technology advances and the public examines the ethical consequences more widely. Suzanne Anker and Dorothy Nelkin, an artist and a social scientist, have written a thought?provoking and visually fascinating book for scientists, artists, students, and general readers intrigued by the anxiety and exhilaration of the genetic age.

Introduction Chapter 1. Deciphering DNA: The Art and Science of a Supermolecule Chapter 2. Reductionism: Reducing the Body to a ?Code Script? of Information Chapter 3. Mutation, Manipulations, and Monsters: The New Grotesque in Art Chapter 4. Blurring Boundaries: Chimeras and Transgenics Chapter 5. Breeding Better Babies: A New Eugenics? Chapter 6. Commodification: Genes for Sale Chapter 7. Science as Culture: Through the Artist's Lens