Once Upon a Biofuture: Tales for a New Millennium is an anthology of stories, from fiction to memoir, written by scientists about a powerful new technology that is re-engineering our world: synthetic biology. The authors, an international group of scientists, are based at the University of Edinburgh - alma mater of Darwin and home of Dolly the Sheep.

The stories were recorded and transcribed, or workshopped and edited, by Jessica Fox, the former storyteller for NASA and artist-in-residence at the UK Centre for Mammalian Synthetic Biology in Edinburgh. The process allowed the scientists to lead the storytelling and retain their creative voice while working with an experienced writer to shape the narrative.


Many of the stories are biographical, offering insight into how scientists become scientists, or taking us to new imaginative worlds. Once Upon a Biofuture is a captivating mix of biology, philosophy and mythology while, in classic anthology tradition, still being connected to a common theme: the very human lessons we learn through the maze-like quest of modern scientific exploration.