Issue 9.12 | Dec 2001
this article for free.
Shrinking the Cat: Genetic Engineering Before We Knew About Genes, by Sue Hubbell
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New habits of old science
Never mind the current outcry over genetically engineered foods - we've been doing it for 4,000 years, says naturalist Sue Hubbell.
Hubbell's book focuses on the centuries-old changes to apples, corn, silkworms, and cats. Species, she argues, are largely a human abstraction rather than a law of nature. Each chapter contains a personal narrative combined with history, a short genetics tutorial, and memories from Hubbell's life in the Ozarks.
Wildcats, for instance, started living with humans in ancient Egypt, shortly after agriculture was established, writes Hubbell. Friendly cats with festive markings were kept and allowed to breed. Hostile felines were cast out or killed outright. Now that's an altogether different, but effective, genetic noodling.
- Simson L. Garfinkel
Houghton Mifflin: www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com.
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