Denise Caruso's Intervention

When I first met Denise Caruso over ten years ago, she was writing the Digital Commerce column for the New York Times and running the influential Spotlight conference. At a time of great hype about all things digital, Denise offered a unique mix of intelligent skepticism and genuine long-term vision. (If you go back and read those Digital Commerce columns in the Times archives, you’ll see what I mean -- there was no one writing about the tech scene the way Denise was back then.) She then went on to explore a theme that’s also been central to my work -- interdisciplinary thinking -- by founding the Hybrid Vigor Institute, where she began exploring the question of risk assessment in times of immense scientific and technological change. That research led her to write her powerful and essential new book, Intervention: Confronting The Real Risks of Genetic Engineering And Life On A Biotech Planet.

Intervention takes as its primary case study the sorry state of real debate -- in the U.S. at least -- over the long-term implications of genetic engineering. As Denise writes, “We’re more than just ‘too far down the road’ with transgenic technologies. I’m not sure we even know what road we’re on; we’re driving too fast to read the signs.” But as crucial an issue as, say, genetically modified food is, Intervention is wrestling with an even more profound question: how we measure and anticipate risk with such complex, open-ended technologies. Denise makes it clear how “spectacularly nearsighted” we tend to be when evaluating radical new advances. And when we’re meddling with the primary forces of nature -- to quote Ned Beatty’s speech from Network -- we can’t afford to be nearsighted. Fortunately, we have people like Denise Caruso to improve our vision.

Comments

[R. Searfoss]

Yes on Caruso's book. I was late to work because of reading it. Already have suggested to others to get it. I learned something on every page. Reading Intervention is like going to one of those really really good classes where the professor points out and explains important things very clearly and interestingly. Almost done with the book and will immediately pass it on to others.
Robert in Atlanta

[Irene]

Hi Steven!

I really found your interview with Andy Barrie on CBC Radio the other day fascinating. You mentioned a website you were connected with but I didn't get the complete address. It sounded like Inside.outside. I've wanted something like this for our political consituencies for quite a while. The CBC had opened a kind of blog for a period during election time and I missed that very much afterward. How can you be informed and active without being able to communicate about issues? Anyway,thanks. Irene/Toronto

[Mark Van Kleef]

I'm watching your show on c-span about "The Ghost Map". Very interesting stuff.

Your middle name caught my interest. I'm working on a story about an outbreak of the plague in Moscow in 1940. The doctor in the story was named Alexander Berlin. He was a researcher at the Saratov Microbial Institute in Saratov, Russia. Doctor Berlin died in the Ekaterinskaya Hospital in Moscow around Christmas of 1940. He had injected himself with what he thought would be a vaccine for the plague.
Could there be a family connection?