Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

A great read, although I found my attention wasn’t as engaged in some of the more science heavy sections at times.

A very interesting book looking into the effects of humans on other species development and extinction. I have little biology background, so I didn't understand some of the scientific terms, so I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't know anything about DNA. This book kinda made me wish I went into the scientific research field. A nice book for science lover.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/innovating-humanity/

In the early 2000s, I was on vacation with my parents in Hawaii and the Honolulu Public Library was offering a display of transgenic mice. (Yes, I go to the public library when I’m on vacation.) The display featured a scientist from the local university, who produced a cage with two small white mice. They looked unremarkable until he held an ultraviolet light over them and they fluoresced a yellow-green. Their little pink ears and noses and tails, the parts not covered with fur, just lit up.

I was amazed. This was the most remarkable thing I had ever seen in my life. The mice had been given a gene from bioluminescent jellyfish. Since that day, 15 years ago, more transgenic advances have been made, bringing together genes from different species.

It’s hard to imagine a particular benefit for glowing mice, either commercially or in terms of the mice themselves. But aiding the survival of an endangered species is a situation in which genetic tweaking comes up. In Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined―and Redefined―Nature, Beth Shapiro offers the example of Florida panthers. In the 1990s, their dwindling population was beset by genetic problems, including males who failed to produce viable sperm. They were rescued by genetic input from a closely related subspecies, the Texas puma. (This was done the old-fashioned way, introducing some feline gals from Texas to the Floridian cats, and letting nature take its course).

But there was debate at the time of whether the subsequent hybrid offspring could be counted as Florida Panthers and therefore still be protected species. This issue, where we draw the border between species, is something to which Shapiro returns repeatedly. For example, we all carry some fragments of Neanderthal DNA in us. Does that mean Neanderthals are not extinct but rather survive in us?

Likewise, genetic analysis might show more relationships between creatures than we realise. For decades it was believed the American landscape had been home to multiple species of bison. Bone and fossil hunters of the nineteenth century had sent their index specimens to museums around the world, bearing different scientific names to distinguish them. There were dozens of bison varieties (or had been), according to scholars. But Shapiro’s own work, using DNA analysis of bones and horns in various museum cabinets, overthrew this bison family taxonomy entirely. All the bison were the same species: Bison bison. Some may have been larger, or had longer horns than others, but they were all the same.

The more we unravel the genomes of Earth’s living beings, the greater the temptation to tweak them. Shapiro is good at explaining the processes to those of us whose knowledge of DNA stops at the helix chart in the high school science lab.

She unpacks some of the challenges around our conflicting attitudes to GMO foods, an area where scientists’ creating new forms has received a lot of public attention. Some environmentalists are vehemently against it, to the point of lobbying against developments like Golden Rice, designed to provide more beta-carotene. This would help prevent diseases of vitamin A deficiency, which can lead to blindness. But to anti-GMO activists, that isn’t the issue. As Shapiro describes, in 2013 “Greenpeace activists destroyed a field of Golden Rice in the Philippines, where 20 percent of children suffer from vitamin A deficiency.” Evidently, malnourished blind kids aren’t the problem, it’s “frankenfoods” that need to be stopped. (Despite Greenpeace’s efforts, Golden Rice was licensed for commercial production in the Philippines this year. But they have succeeded in lobbying other nations to ban GMO foods).

Yet even those of us who cheer on modified crops that can feed the world’s hungry, have moments of pause when it comes to changing us.

But should we? We have no problem with other adjustments. For instance, if an adult receives an artificial hip or a pacemaker, we hail medical advancement. But to adjust an embryo so that it won’t have, for instance, a tendency to heart disease? The word “eugenics” looms in our consciousness.

That horse has bolted however. IVF clinics already allow parents to screen for not just health issues but eye color. Online, there are discussions about potential uses of CRISPR not just on embryos but adults. The real-world vision of Peter Parker’s radioactive spider bite.

We could see this as a natural extension of the ways we seek to improve ourselves already—diets, exercise, Botox, various “life hacks” to make our corporeal forms operate more efficiently. Once, such efforts would have been the province of religious faith, in which we would seek to improve ourselves to better serve God. Today, some people put RFID chips into their hands so that they may open doors without keys.

Yet we don’t really know what would be a better human. As Shapiro concludes:

I don’t doubt that we will eventually turn our engineering powers on ourselves. But when we do, it won’t be to chase an unknown and potentially better human. This is not, after all, how evolution works. There is no natural evolutionary path toward imagining genetic variation that might make one person more fit than another person in some unknown and undescribed future. Instead, we will find ourselves in a moment in which we are forced to decide whether to act or to let nature take its course.

I have a dilemma with rating this one. On one hand, it is a well written science book, full of surprising facts and fresh ideas, and I found it really interesting. But on the other hand, the author's attitude toward her subject, animals, was somehow cold and detached, and it made the book less engaging for me. But certainly it is worth reading if you are interested in evolutionary biology.

Thanks to the publisher, Perseus Books/ Basic Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

This is really interesting book for almost anyone! Especially, those who have ever questioned why we manage "nature". This book does a pretty good job setting a historical understanding of managing the natural world and directed/targeted evolution.

A very interesting book looking into the effects of humans on other species development and extinction. I have little biology background so I didn't understand some of the scientific terms, so I wouldn't recommend it to someone who doesn't know anything about DNA. This book kinda made me wish I went into the scientific research field because it sounds a lot of fun, but also difficult financially 😅

This is a very interesting look into how humans have modified their environment from the beginning, sometimes for good but also for evil. We’ve caused whole species to go extinct, but we also have the capacity to use our powers for good. Shapiro shows this, as well as the new tools at our disposal that make saving the world a little easier. She clearly makes an effort to show different points of view but I think it’s obvious what side she’s on and I happen to share her opinion (if I was starving and someone gave me a tomato, would I care if it was transgenic?) Some scientific explanations were too technical for me to follow, but in general her language is easy to understand. I liked the historical background and possible futures. Let’s hope we choose wisely.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Perseus Books, Basic Books!

I loved this book. Dr. Beth Shapiro put together a great story about human modification of nature, whether accidental or intentional. She writes with a very conversational tone and with a sense of humor, while explaining science very well. She also tells some very funny anecdotes, with me laughing out loud on occasion. The footnotes are also worth reading. This is the second book by Dr. Shapiro that I’ve read. “How to clone a mammoth” was also a great read.

I strongly recommend “Life as we made it” for anyone interested in the topic and I hope that Dr. Shapiro will continue to write popular science books. Thank you to Netgalley and Perseus Books, Basic Books for the advance reader copy.

Solid History, Perhaps A Bit Too Optimistic On Future Tech. In showing the history of how humans have been using crude genetic engineering essentially since we first began interacting with the world - both plant and animal - and in showing how our more modern techniques - including CRSPR - came to be, Shapiro does a great job in showing just how much humans have *already* shaped the evolution of non-human life on this planet. In the ancient world, she uses a lot of her own experiences as a scientist in that exact field, and even in the more modern cases she is discussing techniques she mentions in the earlier sections as having used extensively. On these points, Shapiro is truly excellent.

Where she stumbles a bit - not enough for a star deduction, but enough for a bit of commentary - is that she is perhaps a bit too optimistic about how genetic tinkering will be used in the future. Yes, she discusses the various quandaries, but even in such discussions- *even when discussing the GMO humans created in China a couple of years ago* - Shapiro tends to just hand wave over the negative, darker sides of the technology even while acknowledging their potentially cataclysmic power. This is where a solid dose of science fiction is useful, showing that even when scientists such as Shapiro have the best of intentions... things may not always turn out the way they think, and thus caution truly is warranted. (Yes, I'm thinking of a specific book in this particular example, but the reveal that GMO is used within it is a *massive* spoiler, and thus I'm not naming it here. I *will* note that it is by the same author and indeed part of the spoiler is that it uses some of the same tech as described in HUNGER by Jeremy Robinson, which is another cautionary tale of the "benefits" of genetic modification.)

Still, for what it is and for what the description claims it sets out to do, this truly is a solid examination of the history and current state of the field, and for this it is very much recommended.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I have been fascinated by ancient DNA for many years so to read from a scientist who has worked in the field was excellent. From detailing her work with ancient bison DNA and other DNA projects to the discussion of genetic engineering, the author presented in a clear manner the science behind the work and the ethical quandaries that it holds. From explaining how humans have been genetically modifying nature for tens of thousands of years through breeding, farming and habitat transformation, the book then turns to the controversy of GMOs where she gives a balanced view of both sides of the conflict. Like the author, I feel there is too much good that can come from genetic engineering to stop using it altogether, but it does need regulation to prevent unintended consequences. Overall, a very engaging and informational read.