"The history of cloning experiments dates back more than a century, but advances in technology in recent decades have multiplied the potential applications of cloning--and expanded the controversies surrounding these possibilities. Cloning: A Reference Handbook provides an accessible description of the development of plant and animal cloning from the early stages of human civilization to the present day and coherently covers the science and technology...

Hydraulic fracturing of oil and gas wells -- known commonly as "fracking" -- has been in use in the United States for more than half a century. In recent years, however, massive expansion of shale gas fracturing across the nation has put fracking in the public eye. Is fracking a "win win" like its proponents say, or are there significant costs and dangers associated with the use of this energy production technology? This book examines fracking from...

"The Right to Die: A Reference Handbook provides a complete examination of right-to-die issues in the United States that dissects the complex arguments for and against a person's liberty to receive a physician's assistance to hasten death. It covers the legal aspects and the politics of the right-to-die controversy, analyzes the battles over the right to die in state and federal courts, and supplies primary source documents that illustrate the political,...

"Comprising seven chapters, Immigration Reform: A Reference Handbook surveys the complex topic for high school, undergraduate, and general readers. Chapter 1 gives the historical background to current immigration reform efforts, concentrating on the period from 1965 to date. Chapter 2 discusses problems and controversies, and the proposed solutions to them. Chapter 3 consists of eight original essays contributed by other scholars, complementing the...

"Pregnancy and Birth: A Reference Handbook provides students with information too often ignored in sex education-on what pregnancy and birth are, have been, and can be as transformative personal and social events"--