In 2010, scientists from the University of Bristol demonstrated that genetically modified crops can—and do—pass their DNA onto other organisms . Through a process called horizontal gene transfer, altered genes break the species boundary, introducing foreign mutations into the wild.
Horizontal gene transfer is a good metaphor for something that's happening in literature, thanks to writers like Justin Cronin, Benjamin Percy, and Colson Whitehead—whose new novel, Zone One, comes out this week.
Read Full Article »