In this post-natural history guide, Helen Pilcher invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity.

We are now living through the post-natural phase, where the fate of all living things is irrevocably intertwined with our own. We domesticated animals to suit our needs, and altered their DNA--wolves became dogs to help us hunt, junglefowl became chickens to provide us with eggs, wildebeest were transformed through breeding into golden gnus so rifle-clad tourists had something to shoot. And this was only the beginning. As our knowledge grew we found new ways to tailor the DNA of animals more precisely; we've now cloned police dogs and created a little glow-in-the-dark fish--the world's first genetically modified pet. The breakthroughs continue.

Through climate change, humans have now affected even the most remote environments and their inhabitants, and studies suggest that through our actions we are forcing some animals to evolve at breakneck speed to survive. Whilst some are thriving, others are on the brink of extinction, and for others the only option is life in captivity. Today, it's not just the fittest that survive; sometimes it's the ones we decide to let live.

According to the Bible, Noah built the original ark to save the world's creatures from imminent floods. Now the world is warming, the ice caps are melting and sea levels are rising. With nowhere "wild" left to go, Helen Pilcher proposes a New Ark. In this entertaining and thought-provoking book, she considers the many ways that we've shaped the DNA of the animal kingdom and in so doing, altered the fate of life on earth. In her post-natural history guide, she invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity, as well as the researchers and conservationists who create, manage and tend to these post-natural creations.

In this post-natural history guide, Helen Pilcher invites us to meet key species that have been sculpted by humanity. - (McMillan Palgrave)

Helen Pilcher is a professional science writer with a Ph.D. in stem cell biology and years of stand-up comedy under her belt. Her previous book for Bloomsbury Sigma, Bring Back the King, was Radio 2 "Fact not Fiction" book of the week. It received widespread, positive reviews from outlets including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Sunday Times and Science magazine, and was described by comedian Sara Pascoe as "science at its funniest." Helen has worked as a freelance science writer and communicator for the last 12 years. She has written for many different places including the Guardian, New Scientist, BBC online, Nature magazine and BBC Wildlife magazine. Prior to her freelance career, she worked as a reporter for Nature.

Helen worked as a stand-up comedian for over ten years, before the birth of her children put a stop to staying awake beyond 9pm. During this time, she performed at the Edinburgh comedy festival, at London's Comedy Store, and at various smoky pubs and clubs across Britain. She has been a finalist for Jongleurs's New Act of the Year, the BBC's New Stand Up Competition and Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny.

Publishers Weekly Reviews

Science writer Pilcher (Bring Back the King) delivers an agreeable account of how humans have bred and altered animals throughout history. Cheerfully, she imagines how a Stone Age boy, intent on "mischief" while the adults were out hunting, might have grabbed a wolf puppy from its den as its mother lurked nearby, thus beginning the human program of animal domestication. She proceeds to address opposing theories on how domestication happened, and delves into the complexities of genetic modification. Pilcher maintains a mostly lighthearted tone, with chapter titles such as "Strategic Moos and Golden Gnus" and references to how "evolutionary mischief-making" has resulted in "bald cats, long-haired hamsters" and "goldfish with Elvis-like quiffs." She portrays the technology for writing genetic code as merely the most recent iteration of a long-established process, and optimistically explores its many applications (such as engineering female goats to produce milk containing strands of spider silk, a material stronger than steel). Taking a wider and more somber view, she reflects on how "in a relatively small slice of geological time—the last 12,000 years or so," humanity has made... irrevocable changes to the Earth itself." Popular science readers will find her entertaining work illuminates many of those changes. (Apr.)