The Red Canary: The Story of the First Genetically Engineered Animal (Paperback)

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Product Description
In 1921, forty-year-old schoolteacher Hans Duncker set off through the streets of Bremen. Near the cathedral, he heard a nightingale singing - but this was August and no one had ever heard a nightingale sing in the middle of the town at this time of year. In fact, the bird he heard was extraordinary - it was a special canary (a nightingale-canary) that Karl Reichs, a bird keeper, had engineered through a decade of dedicated breeding. With Reich's knowledge of birds and Duncker's expertise in genetics, the two joined forces and devised the audacious plan to create a brand new bird - a red canary. Favoured originally for their voices, canaries were once so rare that they were worth more than their weight in gold and had been exported in their millions. With Duncker and Reich's research, the canary once more took centre stage - this time in the race to create a genetically engineered animal. But it wasn't until an Englishman and an American recognised that the red canary would need to be a product of both nature AND nurture that the project was finally brought to fruition.

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At the turn of the 20th century canary mania spread from the US and South Africa to Europe, with 150,000 males being raised each year to satisfy demand. Hans Duncker, a German bird enthusiast, was fascinated by the fact that in the 1870s English canary breeders had caused a scandal by feeding their Norwich canaries with red peppers to turn them orange. Duncker spent the rest of his life (1881-1961) using breeding rather than feeding to try and produce a red canary. Duncker's ultimately unsuccessful work was picked up by an Englishman, Anthony Gill, and an American, Charles Bennett, in the 1930s. This was all long before genetically modified organisms and Dolly the sheep, but this amazing story (with its backdrop of the rise of Nazism and eugenic policies) has huge contemporary relevance. This is a highly original narrative revealing how an amateur obsession heralded the inherent dangers of genetic manipulation. It also encompasses the history of bird-keeping which led to the compelling quest to turn the green canary red. Tim Birkhead is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sheffield. He has been President of the International Society of Behavioural Ecology, is a member of the Darwin Correspondence Project committee, and he regularly contributes to radio and science television programmes, newspapers and magazines. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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First Sentence
Inside a tiny cage a small, blood-red bird flutters and calls. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover

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1 Review 5 star:  (1) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 customer review)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars One man's attempt to control Nature, 20 Dec 2003 By  Huw Evans (Nottingham United Kingdom) - See all my reviews This review is from: The Red Canary: The Story of the First Genetically Engineered Animal (Hardcover) This book should not be judged by it's rather lurid cover. While it is indeed based on the fascinating story of how Dr. Hans Dunker set out to breed the first red canary, it is much more than a treatise on canaries. Just as Duncker used his red canary project to demonstrate his mastery of genetics, so does Tim Birkhead use Duncker's story to investigate how Man's relationship with other animals can be traced through the process of domestication; how amateur breeding experiments have contributed to the science of genetics; and ultimately how our understanding of genetics has influenced our political and social attitudes, sometimes with disastrous disatrous. To anyone unfamiliar with the world of bird keeping, this may sound far fetched, but Tim Birkhead provides convincing evidence to the contrary. Duncker, through his bird-breeding experiments became an advocate of the theories of genetic determinism, and when these coincided with the politics of pre-war Germany, they were to have profound and disturbing consequences. The range of Tim Birkhead's research is remarkable, but it is his ability to weave historical facts and scientific information into the fabric of his narrative that makes this book so enjoyable and rewarding. Highly recommended. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all customer reviews...		Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

• Books > Science & Nature > Biological Sciences > Genetics > Animal
• Books > Science & Nature > Popular Science > Genetics
• Books > Scientific, Technical & Medical > Biology > Genetics

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