Pete Shanks is the author of Human Genetic Engineering: A Guide for Activists, Skeptics, and the Very Perplexed, which was published by Nation Books in 2005. He has worked with the Center for Genetics and Society as a consultant throughout its existence. He contributes to the CGS blog, Biopolitical Times, and to the Genetic Crossroads blog at Psychology Today. He was educated in London and Oxford (Philosophy, Politics and Economics), and has lived in Santa Cruz, California, since the mid-1970s, with occasional breaks. As a native of Britain who was born in the then-colony of Singapore, he is particularly sensitive to the class implications of human genetic engineering. His political activity has largely been focused on grassroots work, including opposition to colonial wars and environmentally destructive technologies. Professionally, he has worked in textbook production since before the days of personal computers.