Darwin's Radio

Darwin's Radio is a science fiction novel that explores the potential for sudden, catastrophic leaps in human evolution. Discredited anthropologist Mitch Rafelson makes an astonishing discovery in an ice cave in the Alps: the mummified remains of a prehistoric family, including a newborn infant with disturbing, abnormal characteristics. Simultaneously, molecular biologist Kaye Lang, a specialist in retroviruses, has a controversial theory that ancient diseases and 'junk DNA' encoded in the human genome can become reactivated. This theory becomes a terrifying reality when virus hunter Christopher Dicken pursues a mysterious, flu-like illness dubbed 'Herod's flu' that strikes only expectant mothers, resulting in a miscarriage of a deformed fetus. The three scientists realize that these disparate facts—the prehistoric remains, the retrovirus theory, and the current epidemic—converge on a single science-shattering truth: an ancient endogenous retrovirus called SHEVA has been activated in human DNA. This activation heralds the arrival of a new, rapidly evolving species of human with 52 chromosomes, rather than the typical 46. As public panic and government reaction escalate, Dicken and Lang must race against time to understand this evolutionary puzzle and determine the future of the human race.

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