Word: frankensteinian
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Solving the problem is difficult, mostly because of the ferocious debate over how to do it. Biotech partisans say the answer lies in genetically modified crops--foods engineered for vitamins, yield and robust growth. Environmentalists worry that fooling about with genes is a recipe for Frankensteinian disaster. There is no reason, however, that both camps can't make a contribution...
Especially if the subject is talking about dating a serial killer or building a friendlier abattoir. Morris is drawn to the Frankensteinian: inventors, self-styled scientists and folks on weird quests of self-discovery. They can be creepy, like Kent, but their stories are moving too. Take Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who empathizes with animals because she thinks in images, which, she contends, is how they think as well. She invented the "stairway to heaven," a slaughterhouse design that uses optical illusions to lead cattle calmly to their death, yet has a bond with the beasts born...