Bring Back the King

The New Science of De-extinction

Helen Pilcher

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English

Bloomsbury
23 November 2016

Mathematics & Sciences; Popular science; Genetics (non-medical); Endangered species & extinction of species; Bargains

If you could bring back one living being from the whole of the history

of time, what would you choose? Comedian and former stem-cell biologist

Helen Pilcher has thought about this problem, a lot. In Bring

back the King, Helen explains the cutting-edge science that makes

the resurrection of extinct animals a very real possibility, and

highlights her choices from eras gone by, from the King of the

Dinosaurs, Tyrannosaurus rex, to the King of Rock ’n’

Roll, Elvis Presley,

From dinosaurs to Dodos, Neanderthals

to rock legends, Bring Back the King explains how the

burgeoning field of DNA science is being used to help resurrect not just

individual animals but entire species from their stony graves.

Funny, intriguing and informative, Bring Back the

King describes current initiatives and future plans to restore

deceased animals, and uses both science and willful irreverence to

assess how these genetic Lazarus’s might fare in their brave new world.

Could a pet dinosaur be trained to roll over? Would Neanderthals enjoy

opera? Could a returning Dodo seek vengeance upon humanity?

Blending the very latest de-extinction technology with cloning,

dinosaurs with rock legends, and hard-core popular science with plenty

of gags, Bring Back the King is a book that you will

simply have to read.

By: Helen Pilcher
Imprint: Bloomsbury
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Edition: Export/Airside
Dimensions: Height: 216mm, Width: 135mm,
Weight: 330g
ISBN: 9781472912268
ISBN 10: 1472912268
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 23 November 2016
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Out of Print

Helen Pilcher was a stand-up comedian for more than ten years, before the arrival of children meant she couldn't physically stay 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 was a finalist for Jongleurs New Act of the Year (1998, 1999), the BBC New Stand Up Competition (1999) and Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny (1999). In 2002, she teamed up with fellow comedian Timandra Harkness to write and perform 'The Comedy Research Project' a stand-up comedy show commissioned for the very first Cheltenham Science Festival. Unusually, Helen is also a professional science writer, with a PhD in stem-cell biology. She was formerly a journalist for Nature online, specialising in genetics; before that, she ran the Science in Society programme at the Royal Society, and before that, she worked as a senior scientist for a biotechnology company, engineering a series of human stem cell lines for transplantation into damaged human brains, this following on from her doctoral research into stem-cell therapy for Alzheimer's disease.