Klotzko, Arlene Judith

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Klotzko, Arlene Judith

PERSONAL: Female.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon St., Oxford OX2 6DP, England.

CAREER: Bioethicist, lawyer, and writer. Science Museum, London, England, former writer-in-residence; former visiting scholar in bioethics, Windeyer Institute, University College London.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) The Cloning Sourcebook, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

A Clone of Your Own?: The Science and Ethics of Cloning, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2004.

Contributor to U.S. and U.K. newspapers. Author of column "Science Matters," for Financial Times.

SIDELIGHTS: Bioethicist, lawyer, and science writer Arlene Judith Klotzko's knowledge and experience in science—as well as her connection to the lead scientist on the cloning project that led to the 1997 creation of a cloned sheep named Dolly—have provided her with a wealth of material with which to compose what numerous reviewers have described as well-written and insightful books about cloning.

Klotzko's first book, The Cloning Sourcebook, contains twenty-seven essays divided into four sections, each spotlighting a different perspective on cloning: the sci-ence, the context, the ethical issues, and the policy issues. Defining the book as "ambitious and far ranging," Bryan Hilliard observed in the International Journal of Politics and Ethics that the value of The Cloning Sourcebook "lies not only in its clear discussion and analysis of concepts and arguments, but also in its articulation of the practical public policy issues with which the international community will have to come to terms." Hilliard added, "Klotzko provides a rich source of information, critical analysis, ethical reasoning, and public policy debate." Writing for the British Medical Journal, Trefor Jenkins stated, "It is to be hoped that the general public, as well as health professionals, will read The Cloning Sourcebook." In Library Journal Gregg Sapp acknowledged that the book "aims not to indoctrinate but to inform," and went on to describe Klotzko's work as "essential" reading.

In A Clone of Your Own?: The Science and Ethics of Cloning Klotzko returns to the controversial topic for a deeper examination. The author uses famous works of literature, art, and cinema, such as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Leonardo da Vinci's painting Mona Lisa, and the film Star Wars: Episode II—Attack of the Clones, to draw analogies and make the science of cloning easier to understand. In a Library Journal review, Mary Chitty described A Clone of Your Own? as a "terrific" resources that will be "accessible" to most readers. Matt Stewart, in M2 Best Books, pointed out that Klotzko does not sway readers one way or the other, but rather allows them to make their own decisions about the positive and negative aspects of cloning. Overall, Stewart regarded the book to be "a wonderfully written and fiercely intelligent account of cloning in today's world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

British Medical Journal, December 1, 2001, Trefor Jenkins, review of The Cloning Sourcebook, p. 1313.

International Journal of Politics and Ethics, spring, 2002, Bryan Hilliard, review of The Cloning Sourcebook, p. 89.

Lancet, March 6, 2004, Steve Jones, "Clones, Clowns, and Common Sense," review of A Clone of Your Own?: The Science and Ethics of Cloning, p. 827.

Library Journal, July, 2001, Gregg Sapp, review of The Cloning Sourcebook, p. 117; October 15, 2005, Mary Chitty, review of A Clone of Your Own?, p. 77.

M2 Best Books, May 20, 2004, Matt Stewart, review of A Clone of Your Own?

Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2005, review of A Clone of Your Own?, p. 52.