Beth Shapiro Explained

Beth Shapiro
Birth Name:Beth Alison Shapiro
Birth Date:14 January 1976
Birth Place:Allentown, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Doctoral Advisor:Alan J. Cooper
Known For:How to Clone a Mammoth
Thesis Url:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.288525
Thesis Title:Inferring evolutionary history and processes using ancient DNA
Thesis Year:2003
Awards:Rhodes Scholarship

Beth Alison Shapiro (born January 14, 1976[1]) 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.[2] In March 2024, Shapiro became chief scientific officer of Colossal Biosciences.[3] She also taught in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.[3]

Shapiro's work has centered on the analysis of ancient DNA.[4] She was awarded a Royal Society University Research Fellowship in 2006 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 2009.[5]

Early life and education

Shapiro was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, on January 14, 1976.[6] [7] She grew up in Rome, Georgia, where she served as a local news presenter while attending Rome High School.[8]

She graduated from Rome High School with a GPA of 4.0, and entered the University of Georgia in 1994.[9] She studied Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, English literature, and geology prior to choosing ecology as her major.[7] She graduated summa cum laude in 1999 with BA and MA degrees in ecology.[7] The same year, she was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship 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.[10]

Career

In 2004, Shapiro was appointed a Wellcome Trust Research Fellow at the University of Oxford[11] 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. While at the Biomolecules Centre, Shapiro carried out mitochondrial DNA analysis of the dodo.[12]

Shapiro's research on ecology has been published in journals including Molecular Biology and Evolution, PLOS Biology,[13] Science,[14] and Nature.[15] [16] [17] In 2007, she was named by Smithsonian magazine as one of 37 young American innovators under the age of 36.[18]

In 2024, Shapiro was appointed as chief science officer of Colossal Biosciences to help the company meet its de-extinction and species preservation goals.[19] 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.[20] [21]

Publications

Her peer reviewed publications in scientific journals and books include:

The Science of De-Extinction[3] [26]

Honors and awards

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2009 MacArthur Fellows: Beth Shapiro. MacArthur Foundation. 19 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20160307102911/https://www.macfound.org/fellows/64/. 2016-03-07. macfound.org. Anon. 2011.
  2. Web site: Beth Shapiro, DPhil Investigator Profile 2018-Present . 2024-01-18 . www.hhmi.org . en.
  3. News: Ancient DNA expert Beth Shapiro named CSO of Colossal. UC Santa Cruz.
  4. TEDx talk
  5. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20120314091702/https://homes.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/bshapiro/ShapiroCV_101018.pdf. Beth. Shapiro. 2012. Beth Shapiro Curriculum Vitae at Penn State University. 2012-03-14.
  6. Web site: Beattie-Moss. Melissa. Evolution of a Scientist: An Interview with Beth Shapiro. https://web.archive.org/web/20110722182908/http://www.rps.psu.edu/profiles/shapiro.html. dead. 22 July 2011. Research Penn State. 19 March 2011.
  7. Book: Contemporary Biographies in Environment & Conservation . Salem Press . 2014 . 978-1-61925-539-5 . 117–118.
  8. Web site: 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. 19 March 2011.
  9. News: Brice . Plott . Rhodes scholar from UGA awed by what awaits . The Atlanta Constitution . 21 December 1998 . 23.
  10. DPhil. University of Oxford. Inferring evolutionary history and processes using ancient DNA. Beth Alison. Shapiro. 2003. bodleian.ox.ac.uk. 56923402. Oxford.
  11. Web site: 'Beth Shapiro page on the MacArthur Foundation website..
  12. Web site: Curry. Andrew. How to Make a Dodo: Biologist Beth Shapiro has figured out a recipe for success in the field of ancient DNA research. http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091014133850/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/innovators/shapiro.html. dead. 14 October 2009. Smithsonian Magazine. 19 March 2011.
  13. Penny. David. Bunce. Michael. Szulkin. Marta. Lerner. Heather R L. Barnes. Ian. Shapiro. Beth. Cooper. Alan. Holdaway. Richard N. Ancient DNA Provides New Insights into the Evolutionary History of New Zealand's Extinct Giant Eagle. PLOS Biology. 3. 1. 2005. e9. 1545-7885. 10.1371/journal.pbio.0030009. 15660162 . 539324 . free .
  14. Poinar. H. N.. Metagenomics to Paleogenomics: Large-Scale Sequencing of Mammoth DNA. Science. 311. 5759. 2006. 392–394. 0036-8075. 10.1126/science.1123360. 16368896. 2006Sci...311..392P. 11238470.
  15. 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.. Joy Singarayer. 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. Eske Willerslev. Species-specific responses of Late Quaternary megafauna to climate and humans. Nature. 479. 7373. 2011. 359–364. 0028-0836. 10.1038/nature10574. 22048313. 4070744. 2011Natur.479..359L.
  16. 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. Recalibrating Equus evolution using the genome sequence of an early Middle Pleistocene horse. Nature. 499. 7456. 2013. 74–78. 0028-0836. 10.1038/nature12323. 23803765. 2013Natur.499...74O. 4318227.
  17. 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. The earliest evidence for anatomically modern humans in northwestern Europe. Nature. 479. 7374. 2011. 521–524. 0028-0836. 10.1038/nature10484. 22048314. 2011Natur.479..521H. 4374023.
  18. Web site: 37 under 36: America's Young Innovators in the Arts and Sciences. https://web.archive.org/web/20071011042740/http://images.smithsonianmag.com/content/innovators/. dead. 2007-10-11. smithsonianmag.com.
  19. News: Colossal Hires Ancient DNA Expert Beth Shapiro as Chief Science Officer. Laura Lorek. March 19, 2024. Silicon Hills News.
  20. Web site: Shuyi . Lee . 2024-09-11 . Dinosaurs' return deemed impossible by scientist . 2024-09-26 . Thaiger World . en-US.
  21. Me, the social media manager, when people get mad at Dr. Beth Shapiro in the comments . en . 2024-09-26 . www.youtube.com.
  22. Book: Shapiro. Beth. Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined--and Redefined--Nature. 2023. Oneworld Publications. 9781541644182.
  23. Drummond. A. J.. A. Rambaut . B.. Shapiro. O. G.. Pybus. Bayesian Coalescent Inference of Past Population Dynamics from Molecular Sequences. Molecular Biology and Evolution. 22. 5. 2005. 1185–1192. 0737-4038. 10.1093/molbev/msi103. 15703244. free.
  24. Shapiro. B.. Rise and Fall of the Beringian Steppe Bison. Science. 306. 5701. 2004. 1561–1565. 0036-8075. 10.1126/science.1101074. 15567864. 2004Sci...306.1561S. 27134675.
  25. Book: Shapiro. Beth. Hofreiter. Michael. Ancient DNA: Methods and Protocols. 2012. Humana Press. New York. 978-1-61779-515-2.
  26. Book: Shapiro. Beth. How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction. registration. 2015. Princeton University Press. Princeton, NJ. 9780691157054.
  27. Shapiro. Beth. Sibthorpe. Dean. Rambaut. Andrew. Austin. Jeremy. Wragg. Graham M.. Bininda-Emonds. Olaf R.P.. Lee. Patricia L.M.. Cooper. Alan. 2002. 5560. Flight of the Dodo. Science. 10.1126/science.295.5560.1683. 295. 1683. 11872833.
  28. Zazula. Grant D.. MacKay. Glen. Andrews. Thomas D.. Shapiro. Beth. Beth Shapiro. Letts. Brandon. Broc. Fiona. A late Pleistocene steppe bison (Bison priscus) partial carcass from Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews. 28. 25–26. 2734–2742. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.06.012. 2009QSRv...28.2734Z. 2009. 2011-03-19. 2012-03-14. https://web.archive.org/web/20120314091709/https://homes.bio.psu.edu/people/faculty/bshapiro/zazula2009.pdf. dead.
  29. Web site: Stephens . Tim . 19 April 2023 . Biologist Beth Shapiro elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences . University of California Santa Cruz.
  30. Web site: Beth Shapiro selected as National Geographic Emerging Explorer. Penn State Live. 19 March 2011. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20100527192847/http://live.psu.edu/story/46815. 27 May 2010.
  31. Web site: Beth A. Shapiro (BS '99, MS '99) receives Young Alumnus Award. Odom School of Ecology, The University of Georgia. 19 March 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110928031344/http://www.ecology.uga.edu/alumni.php?Beth_A._Shapiro_BS_99_MS_99_receives_Young_Alumnus_Award-12%2F. 28 September 2011. dead.
  32. News: Shapiro Receives MacArthur Fellow Award. September 21, 2009. Penn State.

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