The Artemis Effect question

I spotted a great article in New Scientist magazine this month which may help people who are struggling a litle bit with the concept behind the mystery pregnancies in 'The Artemis Effect'. You can find it at: http://www.newscientist.com/article/m.... There is also some info at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/adaptatio..., and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partheno...

The idea behind the pregnancies is Full Clone Parthenogenesis, which is a process by which females of the species effectively clone themselves without the need for a male - just like Anne in the book, who is a nun. There is intended to be a parallel between the idea of the Moon dividing, and eggs within certain women on the 'ley-lines' also dividing.

It's a process that has been observed in several species, including sharks, boa constrictors, fish, whiptail lizards, Komodo Dragons and also, strangely enough, turkeys.

It usually produces a full clone of the mother, which is also why all the babies born in the book are girls, with some resemblance to their mothers (think Georgia's birthmark). The importance of Kimberley's child being both later and a boy becomes clearer when you know this!

Hope this helps. Happy to chat further about this if anyone would like.