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.
Pilcher's wit shines through ... You will be left with a newfound respect for conservationists' hands-on methods of preserving genetic material. * Sunday Times * A friendly tour of genetics and cloning, with a bit of history thrown in. * Wall Street Journal * Science at its funniest! -- Sara Pascoe, writer and comedian Is likely to make you think and chuckle in equal measure. * How it Works * A fluid and witty writer; up there with Bill Bryson. -- Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, science commentator, author and presenter Blending the very latest de-extinction technology with cloning, and hard-core popular science with levity, this charming book will generate a lot of thoughtful discussion and a chuckle or two. * Forbes.com * Leaping off the page are insights into many charismatic and neglected species, and the amazing humans who fight to preserve our future. This revolution will inspire our generation the way that voyages of the Beagle and Apollo have before it. -- George Church, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of PersonalGenomes.org Pilcher asks provocative questions about both the nature of science and what it means to be human. * Publisher's Weekly *