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Lee Silver, Professor of Molecular Biology and Public Affairs at the Woodrow Wilson School, has written a new book titled "Challenging Nature: The Clash of Science and Spirituality at the New Frontiers of Life," (Ecco/Harper Collins 2006).

In the book Silver describes biotechnology as the oldest and most widespread of inventions, providing sustenance for humankind since the beginning of civilization. Until recently, he notes, its tools were crude and its implementation was opaque. Today new understanding in the life sciences brings both precision and transparency to the process. The author argues that modern inventions could alleviate human suffering, feed the world, and, at the same time, stem the tide of earth's ecological degradation. Yet the issues surrounding biotechnology are becoming increasingly contentious.

According to Silver, on the left New Age secularists rail against genetically modified crops. On the right, religious Americans want embryo stem-cell research to be a felony. Silver argues that both political camps are driven - consciously or subconsciously - by a fundamental fear of violating a higher spiritual authority, imagined either as the creator God of the Bible, who rules from above, or a vague Mother Nature goddess here on earth.

In Challenging Nature, Silver offers a look at the collision of science, religion, pseudoscience, and politics, and he asserts that the economic ramifications of "pseudoscience" may be enormous: a future in which Asia becomes dominant in biotechnological advances.

Silver is an internationally renowned molecular biologist and expert on biomedical ethics, legal issues, and the societal challenges posed by advances in biotechnology. Silver is the author of many publications, including Mouse Genetics: Concepts and Practice, and Remaking Eden: Cloning and Beyond in a Brave New World, which has been published in 14 languages since its initial publication in 1997.