"Spawned from a controversial study that originated at Oxford University, the "Red Queen" hypothesis takes its name from a notorious figure in Lewis Carroll's Alice Through the Looking Glass: a chess piece that has to run hard to stay in place. According to this model, sexual reproduction provides a continuous mixing of genetic material, enabling hosts to keep parasites at a genetic distance. Draulans uses this theory as his starting point and creates a chilling Orwellian fantasy - a world where traditional families are obsolete, where sex is unheard of, and where no man is safe."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved