Frankenstein’s Cat (2013) by Emily Anthes is about biotechnology and how animals populations are helping to enhance the field. Anthes is a science writer and is obviously very into biotechnology. The technologies Anthes discusses are cloning, “pharming”, tracking, prosthetics and spying. All of these involve animals of all different species.
This book enticed me because of a NPR clip discussing “pharming”, in relation to the book. Pharming uses animals to produce medication for human consumption. Pharming primarily uses animals that produce milk and it involves implanting a human antibody into the animal embryo. When the animal is born it produces the antibodies for certain conditions or diseases, when the animal is milked and we consume their milk, we treat said condition. When these animal reproduce their offspring carry the same antibody, so it is a relatively low cost way to produce pharmaceuticals.
