Everything has a price, and now so do you. Thanks to developments in biotechnology and medicine, our cells, tissues, and organs are becoming the world’s latest commodity or, in the words of the head of one pharmaceutical company, ‘the currency of the future’. From the trafficking of women for their eggs to ‘beauty junkies’ and designer gene repair kits, award-winning writer Donna Dickenson reveals the myriad and often ingenious ways that body parts are converted into profits.

Despite what the media might say, the current biotechnological gold rush is not inevitable and can be resisted: nnnNnnNNNNnnnnnn goes beyond a mere recital of horror stories to suggest a range of new strategies to bring the biotechnology industry to heel. The result is a gripping, powerful book that is essential reading for everyone who believes that no human should ever be reduced to the sum of their body parts.

Donna Dickenson is the first woman recipient of the International Spinoza Lens award for her contribution to public debate on ethics. She is Professor Emerita of Medical Ethics and Humanities at the University of London, and former John Ferguson Professor of Global Ethics at the University of Birmingham, UK. She is a regular contributor to radio and television, and has been profiled in The Times and in the foreign press. www.donnadickenson.net

“Ambitious and thoughtful … This book could not be more timely.” New Scientist

“A thoughtful, intelligent, highly readable work written by someone with impeccable credentials ... In the 1960s Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring launched the avalanche of the environmental movement. Perhaps Body Shopping will do the same for the body rights campaign.” Fay Weldon, Financial Times

“Essential … I defy anyone to read this book without being just a little shocked.” The Lancet

“Alarming and illuminating. No one with any interest at all in medicine and society and how they interact should miss this.” Philip Pullman