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Beth Shapiro

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Beth Shapiro
Shapiro in 2010
Born
Beth Alison Shapiro

(1976-01-14) January 14, 1976 (age 48)
Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater
Known forHow to Clone a Mammoth[4]
Awards
Rhodes Scholarship
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisInferring evolutionary history and processes using ancient DNA (2003)
Doctoral advisorAlan J. Cooper[3]
Websitepgl.soe.ucsc.edu

Beth Alison Shapiro (born January 14, 1976[5]) is an American evolutionary molecular biologist, associate director for conservation genomics at the UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.[6][7] In March 2024, Shapiro became chief scientific officer of Colossal Biosciences.[7] She also taught in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.[7]

Shapiro's work has centered on the analysis of ancient DNA.[8][2] She was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2006[1] and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2009.[5][9]

Early life and education

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Shapiro was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on January 14, 1976.[10][11] She grew up in Rome, Georgia, where she served as a local news presenter while attending Rome High School.[12]

She graduated from Rome High School with a GPA of 4.0, and entered the University of Georgia in 1994.[13] She studied Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English literature, and geology prior to choosing ecology as her major.[11] She graduated summa cum laude in 1999 with BA and MA degrees in ecology.[11][5] The same year, she was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship[12] followed by a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford for research on inferring evolutionary history and processes using ancient DNA supervised by Alan J. Cooper.[3]

Career

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In 2004, Shapiro was appointed a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford[14] and director of the Henry Wellcome Biomolecules Centre at Oxford, a position she held until 2007. In 2006, she was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship.[1] While at the Biomolecules Centre, Shapiro carried out mitochondrial DNA analysis of the dodo.[15][16]

Shapiro's research on ecology has been published in journals[2] including Molecular Biology and Evolution,[17] PLOS Biology,[18] Science,[15][19][20] and Nature.[21][22][23] In 2007, she was named by Smithsonian magazine as one of 37 young American innovators under the age of 36.[24]

In 2024, Shapiro was appointed as chief science officer of Colossal Biosciences to help the company meet its de-extinction and species preservation goals.[25] In the same year, Shapiro has received backlash and has become a target of fan activism and trolling from fans of the Jurassic Park media franchise due to her explanation for why dinosaur de-extinction is impossible, or at least not possible in the way it is commonly depicted in science-fiction.[26][27]

Publications

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Her peer reviewed publications in scientific journals[2] and books include:

  • Life as We Made It: How 50,000 years of human innovation refined – and redefined – nature[7][28]
  • Bayesian coalescent inference of past population dynamics from molecular sequences[17]
  • Rise and fall of the Beringian steppe bison[20]
  • Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols[29]
  • How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction[7][4]
  • Flight of the Dodo[15]
  • A late Pleistocene steppe bison (Bison priscus) partial carcass from Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada[30]

Honors and awards

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Anon (2006). "Dr Beth Shapiro, Research Fellow". royalsociety.org. London: Royal Society. Archived from the original on 2017-03-01.
  2. ^ a b c d Beth Shapiro publications indexed by Google Scholar Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ a b Shapiro, Beth Alison (2003). Inferring evolutionary history and processes using ancient DNA. bodleian.ox.ac.uk (DPhil thesis). Oxford: University of Oxford. OCLC 56923402.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ a b Shapiro, Beth (2015). How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691157054.
  5. ^ a b c d Anon (2011). "2009 MacArthur Fellows: Beth Shapiro". macfound.org. MacArthur Foundation. Archived from the original on 2016-03-07. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  6. ^ "Beth Shapiro, DPhil | Investigator Profile | 2018-Present". www.hhmi.org. Retrieved 2024-01-18.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Ancient DNA expert Beth Shapiro named CSO of Colossal". UC Santa Cruz.
  8. ^ Ancient DNA -- What It Is and What It Could Be: Beth Shapiro at TEDxDeExtinction on YouTube TEDx talk
  9. ^ Shapiro, Beth (2012). "Beth Shapiro Curriculum Vitae at Penn State University" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14.
  10. ^ Beattie-Moss, Melissa. "Evolution of a Scientist: An Interview with Beth Shapiro". Research Penn State. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  11. ^ a b c Contemporary Biographies in Environment & Conservation. Salem Press. 2014. pp. 117–118. ISBN 978-1-61925-539-5.
  12. ^ a b Williams, Phil; Hannon, Sharron. "The Rhodes to Oxford: Ecology student, Foundation Fellow Beth Shapiro becomes UGA's third Rhodes Scholar in four years". University of Georgia. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  13. ^ Brice, Plott (21 December 1998). "Rhodes scholar from UGA awed by what awaits". The Atlanta Constitution. p. 23.
  14. ^ "'Beth Shapiro page on the MacArthur Foundation website".
  15. ^ a b c Shapiro, Beth; Sibthorpe, Dean; Rambaut, Andrew; Austin, Jeremy; Wragg, Graham M.; Bininda-Emonds, Olaf R.P.; Lee, Patricia L.M.; Cooper, Alan (2002). "Flight of the Dodo". Science. 295 (5560): 1683. doi:10.1126/science.295.5560.1683. PMID 11872833. (subscription required)
  16. ^ Curry, Andrew. "How to Make a Dodo: Biologist Beth Shapiro has figured out a recipe for success in the field of ancient DNA research". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on 14 October 2009. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  17. ^ a b Drummond, A. J.; Rambaut, A; Shapiro, B.; Pybus, O. G. (2005). "Bayesian Coalescent Inference of Past Population Dynamics from Molecular Sequences". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 22 (5): 1185–1192. doi:10.1093/molbev/msi103. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 15703244.
  18. ^ Penny, David; Bunce, Michael; Szulkin, Marta; Lerner, Heather R L; Barnes, Ian; Shapiro, Beth; Cooper, Alan; Holdaway, Richard N (2005). "Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of New Zealand's Extinct Giant Eagle". PLOS Biology. 3 (1): e9. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009. ISSN 1545-7885. PMC 539324. PMID 15660162. Open access icon
  19. ^ Poinar, H. N. (2006). "Metagenomics to Paleogenomics: Large-Scale Sequencing of Mammoth DNA". Science. 311 (5759): 392–394. Bibcode:2006Sci...311..392P. doi:10.1126/science.1123360. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 16368896. S2CID 11238470. (subscription required)
  20. ^ a b Shapiro, B. (2004). "Rise and Fall of the Beringian Steppe Bison". Science. 306 (5701): 1561–1565. Bibcode:2004Sci...306.1561S. doi:10.1126/science.1101074. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 15567864. S2CID 27134675. (subscription required)
  21. ^ Lorenzen, Eline D.; Nogués-Bravo, David; Orlando, Ludovic; Weinstock, Jaco; Binladen, Jonas; Marske, Katharine A.; Ugan, Andrew; Borregaard, Michael K.; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Nielsen, Rasmus; Ho, Simon Y. W.; Goebel, Ted; Graf, Kelly E.; Byers, David; Stenderup, Jesper T.; Rasmussen, Morten; Campos, Paula F.; Leonard, Jennifer A.; Koepfli, Klaus-Peter; Froese, Duane; Zazula, Grant; Stafford, Thomas W.; Aaris-Sørensen, Kim; Batra, Persaram; Haywood, Alan M.; Singarayer, Joy S.; Valdes, Paul J.; Boeskorov, Gennady; Burns, James A.; Davydov, Sergey P.; Haile, James; Jenkins, Dennis L.; Kosintsev, Pavel; Kuznetsova, Tatyana; Lai, Xulong; Martin, Larry D.; McDonald, H. Gregory; Mol, Dick; Meldgaard, Morten; Munch, Kasper; Stephan, Elisabeth; Sablin, Mikhail; Sommer, Robert S.; Sipko, Taras; Scott, Eric; Suchard, Marc A.; Tikhonov, Alexei; Willerslev, Rane; Wayne, Robert K.; Cooper, Alan; Hofreiter, Michael; Sher, Andrei; Shapiro, Beth; Rahbek, Carsten; Willerslev, Eske (2011). "Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans". Nature. 479 (7373): 359–364. Bibcode:2011Natur.479..359L. doi:10.1038/nature10574. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 4070744. PMID 22048313. (subscription required)
  22. ^ Orlando, Ludovic; Ginolhac, Aurélien; Zhang, Guojie; Froese, Duane; Albrechtsen, Anders; Stiller, Mathias; Schubert, Mikkel; Cappellini, Enrico; Petersen, Bent; Moltke, Ida; Johnson, Philip L. F.; Fumagalli, Matteo; Vilstrup, Julia T.; Raghavan, Maanasa; Korneliussen, Thorfinn; Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo; Vogt, Josef; Szklarczyk, Damian; Kelstrup, Christian D.; Vinther, Jakob; Dolocan, Andrei; Stenderup, Jesper; Velazquez, Amhed M. V.; Cahill, James; Rasmussen, Morten; Wang, Xiaoli; Min, Jiumeng; Zazula, Grant D.; Seguin-Orlando, Andaine; Mortensen, Cecilie; Magnussen, Kim; Thompson, John F.; Weinstock, Jacobo; Gregersen, Kristian; Røed, Knut H.; Eisenmann, Véra; Rubin, Carl J.; Miller, Donald C.; Antczak, Douglas F.; Bertelsen, Mads F.; Brunak, Søren; Al-Rasheid, Khaled A. S.; Ryder, Oliver; Andersson, Leif; Mundy, John; Krogh, Anders; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Kjær, Kurt; Sicheritz-Ponten, Thomas; Jensen, Lars Juhl; Olsen, Jesper V.; Hofreiter, Michael; Nielsen, Rasmus; Shapiro, Beth; Wang, Jun; Willerslev, Eske (2013). "Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse". Nature. 499 (7456): 74–78. Bibcode:2013Natur.499...74O. doi:10.1038/nature12323. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 23803765. S2CID 4318227. (subscription required)
  23. ^ Higham, Tom; Compton, Tim; Stringer, Chris; Jacobi, Roger; Shapiro, Beth; Trinkaus, Erik; Chandler, Barry; Gröning, Flora; Collins, Chris; Hillson, Simon; O’Higgins, Paul; FitzGerald, Charles; Fagan, Michael (2011). "The earliest evidence for anatomically modern humans in northwestern Europe". Nature. 479 (7374): 521–524. Bibcode:2011Natur.479..521H. doi:10.1038/nature10484. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 22048314. S2CID 4374023. (subscription required)
  24. ^ "37 under 36: America's Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences". smithsonianmag.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11.
  25. ^ Laura Lorek (March 19, 2024). "Colossal Hires Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro as Chief Science Officer". Silicon Hills News.
  26. ^ Shuyi, Lee (2024-09-11). "Dinosaurs' return deemed impossible by scientist". Thaiger World. Retrieved 2024-09-26.
  27. ^ Me, the social media manager, when people get mad at Dr. Beth Shapiro in the comments. Retrieved 2024-09-26 – via www.youtube.com.
  28. ^ Shapiro, Beth (2023). Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined--and Redefined--Nature. Oneworld Publications. ISBN 9781541644182.
  29. ^ Shapiro, Beth; Hofreiter, Michael, eds. (2012). Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols. New York: Humana Press. ISBN 978-1-61779-515-2.
  30. ^ Zazula, Grant D.; MacKay, Glen; Andrews, Thomas D.; Shapiro, Beth; Letts, Brandon; Broc, Fiona (2009). "A late Pleistocene steppe bison (Bison priscus) partial carcass from Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada" (PDF). Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (25–26): 2734–2742. Bibcode:2009QSRv...28.2734Z. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.012. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-03-14. Retrieved 2011-03-19.
  31. ^ Stephens, Tim (19 April 2023). "Biologist Beth Shapiro elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences". University of California Santa Cruz.
  32. ^ "Beth Shapiro selected as National Geographic Emerging Explorer". Penn State Live. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  33. ^ "Beth A. Shapiro (BS '99, MS '99) receives Young Alumnus Award". Odom School of Ecology, The University of Georgia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2011.
  34. ^ a b "Shapiro Receives MacArthur Fellow Award". Penn State. September 21, 2009.
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