EMILY SUVADA

Meet the forMer data scientist behind post-apocalypse/ gene-hacking ya This MorTal Coil

Did the book have any specific inspiration?

The first scene that came to me was a blend of a few tropes: I saw an almost feral girl surviving alone in a desperate world, when an enemy soldier arrives to protect her, and she tries to kill him. I kept adding more insane things – a devastating virus, genehacking – until it somehow became a book.

How fantastical is the science?

The work being done with CRISPR and other synthetic sequencing technology is incredibly exciting, and the future potential is limitless. As a writer, I had to restrain my vision of the future. The characters in the book still look and act like today’s humans, but I don’t expect that’ll be the case in a future with this kind of technology.

Did you learn anything unusual from your research?

One thing that stuck with me is that there are a bunch of people figuring out how to do genetic research at home – extracting DNA using their microwaves etc! That idea definitely made its way into the book.

Do you hope the book might encourage an interest in science?

Definitely! We live in a time of incredible technological change, and navigating the future will require more scientific literacy than ever. Knowledge is power and I want young people to seize that power too.

This Mortal Coil is available to buy now.