The New Age of Breeding: Guest Post by M. Pax

As part of her blog tour for The Backworlds, author M. Pax is here today to talk about science-y stuff! Since I did a degree in Genetics and Biochemistry (as well as a course in Plant Breeding) I thought it would be really interesting to hear from this author about bioengineering.

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Humans have manipulated plants and animals around them since the dawn of our evolution. Grains, corn, livestock, and dogs are all prime examples of how people influenced the evolution of other species through cross pollination and selective breeding.

Now we can do it faster with more precision through bioengineering. Simply put, bioengineering is manipulating DNA to make a better organism, a more sophisticated version of breeding livestock, dogs, or crops. A more precise method of creating hybrid species to serve our needs better. Why? To make us healthier, to make our food healthier, and to feed more of us on less and on easily sustainable resources.

I envisioned bioengineering important for humanity leaving Earth one day and settling other planets. Most worlds would have factors making them different from the one we were bred to survive on. So, I figured we’d have to give ourselves modifications to insure that we thrive out there.

The characters in The Backworlds have all been bioengineered to cope with various environments. They’re still human. I figure no matter how many changes are made to us physically, they can’t bioengineer out essentially who we are — our noble and base traits would remain intact and would continue to play out on worlds far from our origins.

The Backworlds After the war with Earth, bioengineered humans scatter across the Backworlds. Competition is fierce and pickings are scant. Scant enough that Craze’s father decides to hoard his fortune by destroying his son. Cut off from family and friends, with little money, and even less knowledge of the worlds beyond his own, Craze heads into an uncertain future. Boarding the transport to Elstwhere, he vows to make his father regret this day.

Available as an ebook from: Amazon / AmazonUK / Smashwords / Feedbooks

Free on Smashwords & Feedbooks. Will be free on Amazon in a few weeks.

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About the author:

M. Pax’s inspiration comes from the wilds of Oregon, especially the high desert where she shares her home with two cats and a husband unit. Creative sparks also come from Pine Mountain Observatory where she spend her summers working as a star guide. She writes mostly science fiction and fantasy, but confesses to an obsession with Jane Austen. She blogs at her website, www.mpaxauthor.com and at Wistful Nebuae. You’ll find links there to connect on Twitter, Goodread, FB and other sites.