The following people have helped with words and ideas, and I am hugely grateful to all of them: Jennifer Raff, Ed Yong, Ewan Birney, Suzi Gage, Alex Garland, Siddhartha Muhkerjee, Kevin O’Byrne, Rasmus Nielson, Simon Fisher, Josh Akey, Ian Barnes, Andrew Millard, Stephen Keeler, Sarah Kent, Lady Anne Piper, Richard Dawkins, Peter Frankopan, Brian Cox, Aoife McLysaght, Louise Crane, Lara Cassidy, Yan Wong, Lee Rowen, Joseph Alberto Santiago, Nathaniel Comfort, Nathaniel Rutherford, Marcus Harben, Ana Paula Lloyd, Chris Gunter, Emma Darwin, Graham Coop, Lisa Matisoo-Smith, Jane Sowden, Elspeth Merry Price, David Rutherford, Ananda Rutherford, the Darwin Correspondence Project, Subhadra Das, Debbie Kennett, the Celeriacs, Razib Khan, Leonid Kruglyak, Alys Wardle, Andrew Cohen, Gail Kay, Henry Gee, Lena Kerans, Aylwyn Scally, Francesca Stavrakapoulou, Tamsin Edwards, Penny Young, Matt Ridley, Hamish Spencer, Kevin Mitchell, Marcus Munafo, Pete Etchells, Robert Plomin, Peter Donnelly, and Chris Stringer. At the BBC Radio Science Unit: Anna Buckley, Deborah Cohen, Sasha Feachem, Fiona Hill, Fiona Roberts, Adrian Washbourne, Andrew Luck-Baker, Jen Whyntie, and Marnie Chesterton, all of whom produced programs for me that were genetics-related. Tim Usborne and Paul Sen directed me in the BBC4 series The Gene Code, which influenced some of the ideas contained within this book.
Alice Roberts helped me more than could reasonably be expected, I think in atonement for the many times she has told me genetics is dull. Matthew Cobb’s generosity with his help is only matched by his knowledge of Marvel comics. My literary agent Will Francis does nothing but make my writing better, so thank you to all at Janklow & Nesbit. The most profound gratitude to my editor Bea Hemming, whose editorial skill and grace are a joy to behold, to Holly Harley, Nicholas Cizek, and Charlotte Cole for their expert editing, and to Pete Garceau for the cover design. Thanks also to Dan O’Connor and Karen Wise, and to Sarah Schneider, Pamela Schechter, Jeanne Tao, Jennifer Hergenroeder, and the rest of the team at The Experiment. As ever, my deepest love and thanks go to Georgia, Beatrice, and Jake, and to the latest addition to my branch of human evolution, Juno.