Meyer, Anna 1976-

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Meyer, Anna 1976-

PERSONAL:

Born 1976, in New Zealand; married; husband's name Andrew. Education: Holds an undergraduate degree, with honors, from Massey University; Australian National University, Ph.D.

CAREER:

Freelance science writer and editor.

WRITINGS:

Hunting the Double Helix: How DNA Is Solving Puzzles of the Past, Allen & Unwin (Crows Nest, New South Wales, Australia), 2005, published as The DNA Detectives: How the Double Helix Is Solving Puzzles of the Past, Thunder's Mouth Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Anna Meyer is a freelance science writer and editor from New Zealand. As a doctoral candidate, Meyer focused her research on the genre of popular science books, the branch of science writing that presents technical and scientific subjects for a sophisticated and intellectually curious but non-specialist reading audience. Her first book, Hunting the Double Helix: How DNA Is Solving Puzzles of the Past (published in America as The DNA Detectives: How the Double Helix Is Solving Puzzles of the Past), originated in her Ph.D. thesis and is itself a "popular science book about the field of ancient DNA research, which involves the study of any DNA that still exists in the remains of living things that have died," Meyer stated in an interview on the Australian National University Web site.

In the book, Meyer provides a "breezy survey of forensic DNA techniques at work in history and archaeology," noted a Kirkus Reviews contributor. Following an explanation of the basics of DNA and its role in genetics and heredity, Meyer addresses the study of ancient DNA and how genetic material can often be extracted from the remains of living organisms up to 100,000 years old. She looks at a number of important questions regarding genetics and the study of ancient DNA, among which are considerations of several long-term mysteries than can be solved through genetic testing. Among the subjects she probes are whether humans are descended from Neanderthals; why the 1918 flu pandemic proved to be so deadly; whether the Black Death and the bubonic plague were the same disease; and the relationship of the enormous New Zealand moa to other flightless birds. She considers the fates of Anastasia, youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, allegedly killed during the Russian Revolution, and the French Dauphin Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who reportedly died in prison during the French Revolution. Meyer also reports that there is little possibility of being able to clone and resurrect ancient extinct creatures such as dinosaurs because of the 100,000-year limit on the survival of viable DNA. Even those experiments that have been tried on more recently extinct species, such as Tasmanian tigers, have been unsuccessful, Meyer notes.

"With a storyteller's flair, Meyer explains in simple terms the science" behind ancient DNA research, com- mented a Publishers Weekly contributor. Gilbert Taylor, writing in Booklist, remarked that "Meyer sweetens the science and the history with an amiable sense of curiosity." The Kirkus Reviews critic concluded that the book is a "lively exposition of an interesting topic: Meyer is a science writer to watch."