Bring Back the King: The New Science of De-extinction
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.26 (539 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1472912276 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-08-20 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
She lives in Warwickshire, UK. She is also a stand-up comedian who has performed at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and in clubs across Britain. . Helen Pilcher is a professional science writer with a Ph.D. A former journalist for Nature online, she also worked as a senior scientist for a biotechnology company, engineering a series of human stem-cell lines for transplantation into damaged human brains. in stem-cell bio
Helen Pilcher is uniquely qualified to explain the cutting-edge science that makes the resurrection of extinct animals a very real possibility, while acknowledging the serious and humorous aspects of giving a deceased animal a second chance to live. From dinosaurs to dodos and Neanderthals, Bring Back the King reveals how the burgeoning field of DNA science is being used to help resurrect individual animals (did your beloved Fido die before siring offspring?) and entire species from their stony graves. Pilcher describes current initiatives and future plans to restore deceased animals, and uses both science and willful irreverence to assess the ramifications of how these genetic Lazaruses might fare in their brave new world. Along the way, she asks if Elvis could be recreated from the DNA inside a pickled wart, investigates whether it's possible to raise a pet dodo, and considers the odds of a 21st century Neanderthal turning heads on public transport.Blending the very latest de-extinction technology with cloning, and hard-core popular science with levity, Bring Back the King will generate a lot
"A Witty, Intelligent Tour Through The Fascinating Science of De-Extinction" according to Dean Family. Ever since Michael Crichton wrote "Jurassic Park" and Steven Spielberg turned the novels into movies (at least, he did the good ones), many of us have wondered about the science of "de-extinction." Can you take dino blood from an ancient mosquito trapped inside a blob of amber, combine missing DNA with that of a frog, say -- and recreate a world lost for 65 million years? Helen Pilcher asks that and a lot more in this fact-packed non-fiction book. She is a stem cell researcher herself, and explores her questions while unveiling the history and cutting edge science of de-extinction. It's a lot more co. "I found this to be misleadingly oversimplified and often painfully condescending." according to Worddancer Redux. I had hoped that the author would address, if not indeed thoroughly explore, some of the important and vexing questions about what 'de-extinction' is, and whether, indeed, it is correct to treat it as one clear idea.Some of the questions that come up are quickly are ones seem both germane and obvious. E.g., what do we mean when we say that a SPECIES has gone extinctrather than that none of the INDIVIDUALS of that species are now living and breeding? Trying to answer that--or even to make the issues clear enough to try to untangle--immediately raises questions about what we think the connections/relat. Found Highways said Intro to Cloning and Other Sports. I love to read popular science, but frankly, I am science-impaired. The science of DNA is quite interesting to me as well as completely complicated. And when it comes to cloning, de-instincting, resurrecting, and any other possibilities, it's all a mystery to me. Bring Back the King is an accessible and funny book about those subjects in which Helen Pilcher defines, describes, and discusses what is possible, what isn't possible, what may someday be possible, and what are the ramifications. It's a huge topic, so this is just the tip of the iceberg, but it's a good introduction to a complex subject. So
(Plus Elvis, who was a different kind of wild.)" - Stewart Brand author of WHOLE EARTH DISCIPLINE and co-founder of Revive & Restore"Lighthearted but informative read buy this title as a great insight into modern biology and a more accessible look at de-extinction." - Henrietta Verma, Booklist. "Pilcher asks provocative questions about both the nature of science and what it means to be human. Pilcher uses humor effectively to keep readers engaged, and there is a great deal here to entertain and educate them." - Publishers Weekly"A unique perspective on our responsibility to preserve the chain of being of which we are only a part." - Kirkus Reviews"With humour and accuracy