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Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene by Gene
Gonorrhea. Bed bugs. Weeds. Salamanders. People. All are evolving, some surprisingly rapidly, in response to our chemical age. In Unnatural Selection, Emily Monosson shows how our drugs, pesticides, and pollution are exerting intense selection pressure on all manner of species. And we humans might not like the result.
Monosson reveals that the very code of life is more fluid than once imagined. When our powerful chemicals put the pressure on to evolve or die, beneficial traits can sweep rapidly through a population. Species with explosive population growth—the bugs, bacteria, and weeds—tend to thrive, while bigger, slower-to-reproduce creatures, like ourselves, are more likely to succumb.
Monosson explores contemporary evolution in all its guises. She examines the species that we are actively trying to beat back, from agricultural pests to life-threatening bacteria, and those that are collateral damage—creatures struggling to adapt to a polluted world. She also presents cutting-edge science on gene expression, showing how environmental stressors are leaving their mark on plants, animals, and possibly humans for generations to come.
Unnatural Selection is eye-opening and more than a little disquieting. But it also suggests how we might lessen our impact: manage pests without creating super bugs; protect individuals from disease without inviting epidemics; and benefit from technology without threatening the health of our children.
Monosson reveals that the very code of life is more fluid than once imagined. When our powerful chemicals put the pressure on to evolve or die, beneficial traits can sweep rapidly through a population. Species with explosive population growth—the bugs, bacteria, and weeds—tend to thrive, while bigger, slower-to-reproduce creatures, like ourselves, are more likely to succumb.
Monosson explores contemporary evolution in all its guises. She examines the species that we are actively trying to beat back, from agricultural pests to life-threatening bacteria, and those that are collateral damage—creatures struggling to adapt to a polluted world. She also presents cutting-edge science on gene expression, showing how environmental stressors are leaving their mark on plants, animals, and possibly humans for generations to come.
Unnatural Selection is eye-opening and more than a little disquieting. But it also suggests how we might lessen our impact: manage pests without creating super bugs; protect individuals from disease without inviting epidemics; and benefit from technology without threatening the health of our children.
200 pages, Hardcover
First published October 28, 2014
7 people are currently reading
253 people want to read
About the author
Emily Monosson
10 books33 followersEmily Monosson is an environmental toxicologist, an independent scholar at the Ronin Institute and an adjunct facutly at the University of Massachusetts. Most days she writes in a little coffee shop around the corner and overlooking the Sawmill River called the Lady Kiligrew at the Montague Bookmill in Montague, MA. Maybe see you there!
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 18, 2015
Recommending this book to students who are interested in medicine, the environment, chemistry and/biology.
Reading level good for senior students.
Reading level good for senior students.
November 27, 2023
My biology professor made the whole class read this book and write a paper on each chapter. I was not a fan
November 25, 2015
www.shelfnotes.com review
Dear Reader,
Have you ever thought about evolution and what the human race will evolve to next? I do all the time. I even have this theory that “the spectrum” is the next step in our evolution. What we might think is a hindrance for autistic and Asperger syndrome might actually be an advancement in thinking. Think about it, evolution goes slowly right? Plus it’ll learn from its mistakes. What if we are in the beginning stages and down the line our brain capacity will increase without the social disabilities attached to the syndromes? However, I am digressing and this book mentions nothing about that, it’s just a theory I’ve hashed around. Even though the book doesn’t discuss much of where humans are evolving to, you will learn the evolution of things around us (and scare you to death).
The book does a good job setting us up with a little history of antibiotics, mainly because the points lead to the future of bacteria and the human resistance to potential super-bugs. If the mention of super-bugs doesn’t make you shake, this book will be a cake walk to read. However, if you are ready to hunker down in a fallout shelter, you might want to tread carefully with this information. A great quote from the book that sums up the fear I felt, “We beat life back with our drugs, pesticides, and pollutants, but life responds. It evolves.” Doesn’t that almost seem like a tag line for a horror movie? See, Scary!
Why does the author focus on bacteria to discuss evolution? “The first step is understanding how our choices impact life’s evolutionary course. And so we begin close to home, with an impending public health disaster: antibiotic resistance.” It’s easier to see and understand, we can draw a timeline of how things are evolving because germs, bugs and bacteria evolve faster due to the size and population growth. Humans and animals reproduce more slowly, therefore they will evolve slow, for example, “we won’t see the evolution of tusk-free African elephants in heavily hunted populations or containment-resistant polar bears”.
Let’s just say, the Author is really smart to use infections and antibiotics as the source of discussion, the statistics speak and they don’t paint a very pretty picture. Every antibiotic we swallow brings us closer to a resistant superbug that will be sure to attempt a wipe of humanity. What was once easily treatable is now potentially fatal. We are told that every year “nearly 37 million pounds of antibiotics are used in the United States”. Of that number, only a percentage is willingly swallowed, some of them are being introduced in our livestock. Think again about swallowing those eggs at breakfast, you could be slowly dosing yourself with antibiotics. Actually, not “could be”… I’m pretty sure you are. One of my favorite quotes from this book, “Antibiotics weren’t just for the sick and dying anymore – they had become an integral part of ‘what’s for dinner.’” *Shivers*
I could probably go on and on about this because I have another two pages of notes and highlights but I need to save some of this for you. I’m pretty sure you should read this. The Author has a purpose for this book, “Rather than risk heading off into a near future filled with “superbugs”, we can change how we interact with pests and pathogens, reduce the pressure, and still maintain some degree of control.” I’m hoping the awareness spreads and the Author accomplishes this because this terrifies me. I’m not saying you “have” to read this but I “want” you to read this.
Happy Reading,
AmberBug
P.S. - I was graciously given this digital book from Netgalley and the Publishers to read and give my thoughts. Thank you!
Dear Reader,
Have you ever thought about evolution and what the human race will evolve to next? I do all the time. I even have this theory that “the spectrum” is the next step in our evolution. What we might think is a hindrance for autistic and Asperger syndrome might actually be an advancement in thinking. Think about it, evolution goes slowly right? Plus it’ll learn from its mistakes. What if we are in the beginning stages and down the line our brain capacity will increase without the social disabilities attached to the syndromes? However, I am digressing and this book mentions nothing about that, it’s just a theory I’ve hashed around. Even though the book doesn’t discuss much of where humans are evolving to, you will learn the evolution of things around us (and scare you to death).
The book does a good job setting us up with a little history of antibiotics, mainly because the points lead to the future of bacteria and the human resistance to potential super-bugs. If the mention of super-bugs doesn’t make you shake, this book will be a cake walk to read. However, if you are ready to hunker down in a fallout shelter, you might want to tread carefully with this information. A great quote from the book that sums up the fear I felt, “We beat life back with our drugs, pesticides, and pollutants, but life responds. It evolves.” Doesn’t that almost seem like a tag line for a horror movie? See, Scary!
Why does the author focus on bacteria to discuss evolution? “The first step is understanding how our choices impact life’s evolutionary course. And so we begin close to home, with an impending public health disaster: antibiotic resistance.” It’s easier to see and understand, we can draw a timeline of how things are evolving because germs, bugs and bacteria evolve faster due to the size and population growth. Humans and animals reproduce more slowly, therefore they will evolve slow, for example, “we won’t see the evolution of tusk-free African elephants in heavily hunted populations or containment-resistant polar bears”.
Let’s just say, the Author is really smart to use infections and antibiotics as the source of discussion, the statistics speak and they don’t paint a very pretty picture. Every antibiotic we swallow brings us closer to a resistant superbug that will be sure to attempt a wipe of humanity. What was once easily treatable is now potentially fatal. We are told that every year “nearly 37 million pounds of antibiotics are used in the United States”. Of that number, only a percentage is willingly swallowed, some of them are being introduced in our livestock. Think again about swallowing those eggs at breakfast, you could be slowly dosing yourself with antibiotics. Actually, not “could be”… I’m pretty sure you are. One of my favorite quotes from this book, “Antibiotics weren’t just for the sick and dying anymore – they had become an integral part of ‘what’s for dinner.’” *Shivers*
I could probably go on and on about this because I have another two pages of notes and highlights but I need to save some of this for you. I’m pretty sure you should read this. The Author has a purpose for this book, “Rather than risk heading off into a near future filled with “superbugs”, we can change how we interact with pests and pathogens, reduce the pressure, and still maintain some degree of control.” I’m hoping the awareness spreads and the Author accomplishes this because this terrifies me. I’m not saying you “have” to read this but I “want” you to read this.
Happy Reading,
AmberBug
P.S. - I was graciously given this digital book from Netgalley and the Publishers to read and give my thoughts. Thank you!
August 12, 2019
Good book to get people thinking about the larger affect toxics have on our lives. I found myself wanting more about environmental toxicology and epigenetics but I think that just speaks to how much more research is needed on the subject area.
April 13, 2019
A quick and simple look at how humans are changing evolution in unexpected ways.
January 13, 2019
In the book "Unnatural Selection" by Emily Monosson you go into great detail about a number of pesticides and medicines such as chemotherapy and herbicide resistance including a list of others. Emily Monosson is an environmental toxicologist who researches how animals are affected by different unnatural substances humans use on the environment. In her book, she informs us about how animals react to these drugs and pesticides and why they are unhealthy for the environment.
Monosson looks into great detail at how we as human are evolving rapidly from these new chemicals but the animals and plants are being negatively affected. Some of these pesticides we have made to help with our daily lives have put species into hard times and the entire species itself is struggling because of it. Some people look at our drugs and pesticides as useful and necessary for us but in the book, it is looked at as somewhat unnecessary and used to make our lives easier and causing the animals and plants to pay.
I gave this book two stars because it is very interesting but it was also very slow and there was nothing that interested me. If I had known more about this book before I read it I would have chosen another book due to the use of words I didn't know in this book, there were many big medical words used that I had to look up and it caused the book to be very slow and not as interesting to me.
Monosson looks into great detail at how we as human are evolving rapidly from these new chemicals but the animals and plants are being negatively affected. Some of these pesticides we have made to help with our daily lives have put species into hard times and the entire species itself is struggling because of it. Some people look at our drugs and pesticides as useful and necessary for us but in the book, it is looked at as somewhat unnecessary and used to make our lives easier and causing the animals and plants to pay.
I gave this book two stars because it is very interesting but it was also very slow and there was nothing that interested me. If I had known more about this book before I read it I would have chosen another book due to the use of words I didn't know in this book, there were many big medical words used that I had to look up and it caused the book to be very slow and not as interesting to me.
April 13, 2018
Those who know more than average about evolution will find little new information in this book, but the book does collect in one place a good selection of how resistance evolves in the face of our work, deliberate and otherwise, to change nature. It is easy to read -- short and nontechnical. Chapters cover antibiotics, vaccines, cancer treatments, weed killers, bedbugs, water pollution, human evolution, and epigenetics. The last chapter is just long enough to make the point that evolutionary mechanisms are more involved than the familiar genetic mutations.
September 2, 2023
I don't know where I read about this book. I was lucky to be able to order out through the Leominster Public Library. I am throughly indebted to them. This is to me is the book of books. You want to know about germs ....bacteria...DNA ..MRNA....she provides it in easily readable prose. As a Nurse I enjoyed this book completely. She has made chemical and biological happenings understandable . It is a fast read ....very velcro-like in manner. Read it.
November 5, 2017
I thought this was a nice introduction to the issues of antibiotic resistance for an individual uneducated in the life sciences such as myself.
February 26, 2019
Fantastic viewpoint on the selection pressures that exist on a population. Wonderful read!
March 1, 2019
Informative but not engaging.
January 31, 2016
So if I read a book that talks about super-germs and then feel sick two days later, am I sick or is my imagination overactive? Medical students' disease or the fact that I share a house with someone who was sick last week? Not that Unnatural Selection by Emily Monossson has anything in it to tell me how hypochondrial I am being. But it does have enough bits and pieces in it to make me feel nervous. And, unlike my last "scientific" book I read, there are references -- almost a quarter of the book in my copy. And no holier-than-thou attitude either.
Yay science!
Except boo people, since, as Unnatural Selection points out, people are doing a lot of stuff that may have unintended long term consequences as weeds, bugs, and germs develop new resistance to our attempts to squash them out, or, in a more intriguing aspect I hadn't know about before, re-activating genes that maybe haven't been used for centuries. So yay evolution, except for the fact that such evolution in our tiny plant and microbe friends will likely screw us over big time in the coming years. At the end of The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu, when they go see the locusts and talk about how all they've ever tried to do, and here the locusts still are, thriving, unsquashable, unstoppable, yep. Like that. We're screwed.
So what to do, what to do? That isn't really Unnatural Selection's scope, since it isn't a fix-it-up book, but rather a watch-out-your-house-is-caving-in book. It stays scientific; there's no fear-mongering. But I still get sleepy reading books like this, like the problem is so overwhelming that my brain actually starts turning itself off rather than want to keep reading. At the same time, as the book points out, a huge problem is agri-business, which I can affect only a little (buying antibiotic free meat, writing letters to parliament, etc.). But I can't really stop Monsanto from tinkering around to get more herbicide-resistant crops that end up cross-breeding with weeds until the weeds are endemic and resistant to all known herbicides. So then I start to freak out, and the book talks about influenza, and I convince myself I have influenza, and I get even sleepier. I perked up at the third and final chapter on epigenetics, but then the book ends, without even so much as a conclusion, and I was left feeling adrift in a sea of antibiotic, herbicide and pesticide resistant super plants and microbes ready to destroy me. Maybe I'll stay in my house for awhile.
Believable science. No assholery.
Unnatural Selection by Emily Monossson went on sale October 28, 2014.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Yay science!
Except boo people, since, as Unnatural Selection points out, people are doing a lot of stuff that may have unintended long term consequences as weeds, bugs, and germs develop new resistance to our attempts to squash them out, or, in a more intriguing aspect I hadn't know about before, re-activating genes that maybe haven't been used for centuries. So yay evolution, except for the fact that such evolution in our tiny plant and microbe friends will likely screw us over big time in the coming years. At the end of The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu, when they go see the locusts and talk about how all they've ever tried to do, and here the locusts still are, thriving, unsquashable, unstoppable, yep. Like that. We're screwed.
So what to do, what to do? That isn't really Unnatural Selection's scope, since it isn't a fix-it-up book, but rather a watch-out-your-house-is-caving-in book. It stays scientific; there's no fear-mongering. But I still get sleepy reading books like this, like the problem is so overwhelming that my brain actually starts turning itself off rather than want to keep reading. At the same time, as the book points out, a huge problem is agri-business, which I can affect only a little (buying antibiotic free meat, writing letters to parliament, etc.). But I can't really stop Monsanto from tinkering around to get more herbicide-resistant crops that end up cross-breeding with weeds until the weeds are endemic and resistant to all known herbicides. So then I start to freak out, and the book talks about influenza, and I convince myself I have influenza, and I get even sleepier. I perked up at the third and final chapter on epigenetics, but then the book ends, without even so much as a conclusion, and I was left feeling adrift in a sea of antibiotic, herbicide and pesticide resistant super plants and microbes ready to destroy me. Maybe I'll stay in my house for awhile.
Believable science. No assholery.
Unnatural Selection by Emily Monossson went on sale October 28, 2014.
I received a copy free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
December 24, 2016
Evolution usually receives popular mention in the context of natural history, i.e. "how we got this way". Far less appreciated is the fact that life all around us, even life within us, is constantly continuing to change. The lightening-fast regeneration of bacteria and inspect species allows for dramatic evolution within the scale of weeks, and Unnatural Selection examines the human role in that drama. This is a subject not merely interesting in the abstract, but one with direct connection to our health and our food.
Life is dynamic that responds to stimuli just as a market responds to incentives. The first vaccines against the smallpox bacteria and other microbes revolutionized medicine, allowing it to directly combat disease instead of merely preventing it. They also changed the bacteria, however; within ten years of penicillin's introduction, for instance, resistant bacteria had taken over. Those who could take the punches were the ones who survived to reproduce, and in the decades since medical researchers have been kept busy trying to find ways to keep us ahead in the arms race. While doctors are now beginning to understand the risks of using antibiotics too aggressively, Nature's resilience applies to things we're not trying to kill. Take the flora and fauna of the Hudson River, for instance, turned into a de facto chemical waste depository; though the worst damage has been cleaned, the toxic years live in a resident population of amphibians who are far more resistant to similar invasion than their long-dead cousins. Of course, this doesn't mean we shouldn't clean up our act, since animals that ingest toxic substances can still kill the animals that attempt to digest them, but it's nice to know Nature is a tougher bird than she's given credit. Similar responses are observed in the realm of cancer cells, which are essentially an invasion from within, and in agribusiness as genetically modified crops spread their genetic influence.
September 6, 2015
Perhaps not the wisest read for someone about to leave the country, but Monosson's well researched book should be of interest to anyone wondering about the future of evolution, 'super-bugs' and how our accelerated changes to our environment will affect our future world and our ability to survive in it.
The book is well-written, informative without being too loaded down with scientific jargon, and doesn't require any foreknowledge to read. However it is still pretty dry, without a specific interest in this topic readers may find some sections drag. I found the chapters on cancer and the section Toxins in the Wild especially interesting and in the case of the cancer research especially, a bit horrifying.
It also made me think about any meat I consume, it was astounding to read that we Americans consume 37 million pounds of antibiotics and that of that 30 million pounds are fed to pigs, chickens and cows. Kind of insane numbers.
As a person who works in a public place this book definitely gave me some things to think about, especially when getting those vaccinations. Finally the epilogue about epigenetics definitely sparked my interest!
The book is well-written, informative without being too loaded down with scientific jargon, and doesn't require any foreknowledge to read. However it is still pretty dry, without a specific interest in this topic readers may find some sections drag. I found the chapters on cancer and the section Toxins in the Wild especially interesting and in the case of the cancer research especially, a bit horrifying.
It also made me think about any meat I consume, it was astounding to read that we Americans consume 37 million pounds of antibiotics and that of that 30 million pounds are fed to pigs, chickens and cows. Kind of insane numbers.
As a person who works in a public place this book definitely gave me some things to think about, especially when getting those vaccinations. Finally the epilogue about epigenetics definitely sparked my interest!
October 15, 2014
From my review for The LA Review of Books:
IMAGINE an insecticide-soaked mattress crawling with bedbugs. You now have a metaphor for the future of our relationship to the living world. In the second half of the 20th century, synthetic pesticides all but eradicated the four-millimeter-long blood-sucking insects in the developed world. Today, those same poisons have little effect, and so, bedbugs have returned, lurking beneath mattresses and between bed frame slats — ready for dinner when we’re ready for sleep.
The case is no different for other bugs in our day-to-day life, as environmental toxicologist Emily Monosson details in Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene By Gene (Island Press). Monosson surveys a world we have subjected to coordinated chemical warfare for the better part of a century, and finds life has evolved its way around our pesticides, antibiotics and chemotherapies.
IMAGINE an insecticide-soaked mattress crawling with bedbugs. You now have a metaphor for the future of our relationship to the living world. In the second half of the 20th century, synthetic pesticides all but eradicated the four-millimeter-long blood-sucking insects in the developed world. Today, those same poisons have little effect, and so, bedbugs have returned, lurking beneath mattresses and between bed frame slats — ready for dinner when we’re ready for sleep.
The case is no different for other bugs in our day-to-day life, as environmental toxicologist Emily Monosson details in Unnatural Selection: How We Are Changing Life, Gene By Gene (Island Press). Monosson surveys a world we have subjected to coordinated chemical warfare for the better part of a century, and finds life has evolved its way around our pesticides, antibiotics and chemotherapies.
July 31, 2014
Real Horror!
I read a lot of horror and dystopia - genre fiction that can send a chill down your spine or have you looking over your shoulder. However Emily Monosson's Unnatural Selection puts them all to shame.
This engagingly written book simply scares the wits out of you!
Monosson explains how our efforts to improve our world just may end up killing us all. Untreatable STDs. Super bugs of all kinds. Even the lowly bedbug. The author explains how our use of chemicals and antibiotics are pushing these buggies into a sort of super speedy evolution, making them stronger and in some cases, completely untreatable.
While scientific in nature, the book is eminently readable - without dumbing things down for us non-science folks.
Fascinating and absolutely chilling!
I read a lot of horror and dystopia - genre fiction that can send a chill down your spine or have you looking over your shoulder. However Emily Monosson's Unnatural Selection puts them all to shame.
This engagingly written book simply scares the wits out of you!
Monosson explains how our efforts to improve our world just may end up killing us all. Untreatable STDs. Super bugs of all kinds. Even the lowly bedbug. The author explains how our use of chemicals and antibiotics are pushing these buggies into a sort of super speedy evolution, making them stronger and in some cases, completely untreatable.
While scientific in nature, the book is eminently readable - without dumbing things down for us non-science folks.
Fascinating and absolutely chilling!
January 20, 2015
The human race is plagued by annoyances - illnesses, weeds, bed bugs and other pesky or even life threatening problems. Then science comes up with a miracle "cure". Or is it? The shorter life cycle of bacteria, weeds, bugs and cells means their ability to change due to mutation allows them to adapt to the "cure" and come roaring back, to our detriment. This book is an exploration of how antibiotics, vaccines, medical treatments and plant and insect pesticides are unlikely to truly defeat these problems because they are able to evolve and adapt at a quick pace to the medical and chemical solutions scientists create. The impact of pollution and the relevance of epigenetics is included for a well rounded discussion of this ongoing battle.
July 18, 2015
The thesis is straightforward--mankind is affecting the evolution of cancer, viruses, weeds, bacteria, etc. (Antibiotic-resistant bacteria is the most obvious example.) Monosson argues that we should consider how humans affect selection pressures in deciding how to fight cancer, viruses, weeds, et al.
Monosson walks through her examples with care. Her prose is fine and not stilted, but the style is still a little dry and I had to push through. But I now understand the Monsanto issue and bedbug issue far better than before, so I'm glad I read this book.
Monosson walks through her examples with care. Her prose is fine and not stilted, but the style is still a little dry and I had to push through. But I now understand the Monsanto issue and bedbug issue far better than before, so I'm glad I read this book.
January 11, 2015
I like it. Plain and simple, just like the book itself. While Unnatural Selection is about mainly change/evolution/mutation, it touches many subjects and does it in a fun way, sort of. It talks about vaccines, chemotherapy and bedbugs; in this order, and it gives you a short sum-up about all of them.
That said, I would check it out on library, but I wouldn't buy and put it on my bookshelf. Overall, it's a 4/5.
Oh, also, great cover.
That said, I would check it out on library, but I wouldn't buy and put it on my bookshelf. Overall, it's a 4/5.
Oh, also, great cover.
June 22, 2015
A good book to make you think about ongoing issues with human intervention and its consequences as far as natural selection: RoundUp pest resistance, the development of resistance to Gleevac in human cancer cells, the fact that DDT really was not the answer in Malaria control and the little understood role of the epigenome and environmental factors.
Thank you for the Free Reading copy from Net Galley and Island Press
Thank you for the Free Reading copy from Net Galley and Island Press
July 5, 2016
A very thought provoking book on how humans have interfered with nature's selection mechanism, creating mutants out of normal animals.
January 3, 2018
An interesting read for a scientist. Well researched. Comprehensive. Quite a lot of scientific terms and insufficient Darwin theory, but overall a good read.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews