About this item
Jurassic Park meets The Sixth Extinction in Rise of the Necrofauna, a provocative look at de-extinction from acclaimed documentarist and science writer Britt Wray.A captivating whirlwind tour through the birth and early life of the scientific idea known as "de-extinction." - Beth Shapiro, author of How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-ExtinctionWhat happens when you try to recreate a woolly mammoth - fascinating science, or conservation catastrophe?In Rise of the Necrofauna, Wray takes us deep into the minds and labs of some of the world's most progressive thinkers to find out. She introduces us to renowned futurists like Stewart Brand and scientists like George Church, who are harnessing the powers of CRISPR gene editing in the hopes of "reviving" extinct passenger pigeons, woolly mammoths, and heath hens.
About the Author
Britt Wray writes about recent advancements in genetic and genomic sciences that allow humans to not only study life at a molecular scale, but directly shape it as well. Voraciously curious and inquisitive, Wray's writing drills into the cultural questions that surround new biotechnologies in order to weave what she discovers into lively narratives for non-specialist audiences.
Wray's first book - Rise of the Necrofauna: The Science, Ethics and Risks of De-Extinction - is about a new scientific movement that aims to bring extinct species back to life, and is published by Greystone Books and the David Suzuki Institute. The foreword is written by George Church of Harvard University and MIT, who is using genome-editing techniques to create woolly mammoth traits in elephant cells in his lab.
Wray holds a BSc. in Biology from Queens' University, MA in Media from OCAD University, and is a PhD candidate in Science Communication at the University of Copenhagen. Wray has been a visiting scholar at New York University's Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute, and is a presenter and producer on several radio programs and podcasts that have aired on BBC and CBC.
