The Red Canary: The Story of the First Genetically Engineered Animal

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.

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.