We are all fairly familiar with the idea of
Natural History as a subject that strives to understand the complex workings of
nature, by neatly explaining its systems and interdependencies, as if it happens in some sort of isolation from the human race in
the 'natural world'.
Postnatural history is concerned with those
species that have crossed the line by adaptation or design into the synthetic world of humans.The plants, animals, insects and bacteria that have been developed, not just by nature alone but by culture and more recently by
biotechnology, that we use to give greater yield for foodstuff, to act as
experimental baselines for medicine, or simply to exploit opportunities that we create for their survival;
Until recently the
Charolais bull, Transgenic Mosquitos and Triploidy Salmon have occupied a
twilight zone between the natural and the industrial as if in some way they ceased to be either life-forms or raw materials, similarly the habitat of such species as the lab rat, the urban fox or the E. coli x1776 have not been considered worthy of a visit by
Sir David Attenborough.
Such creatures are increasingly becoming the hope of modern industry, the use of bacteria has even been suggested as a solution to the
Fukushima radiation problem. All the while these creatures exist as aberrations to
the natural order, it is easy to overlook just how many of them there are, and how 'customised' organisms are proliferating. Now that we have Postnatural History it has become possible to populate the swelling ranks of
the Postnatural Kingdom, perhaps just in time to watch it overshadow the dwindling numbers that still thrive in the wild.
The worlds first Center for PostNatural History will be opened at 4913 Penn Ave. in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in late 2011.
My favourite exhibit is the
Angora goat engineered by the Nexia corp to produce spider silk in its milk for use in manufacturing bullet-proof armor and fishing line.
ref: http://www.postnatural.org/index.php