This is the first book trailer I think I've seen. And it rocks.

This came out in March, so it's more than a few months old and I'm not breaking any news here. I'm also sure there are other book trailers out there, but it is the first time I've seen something like this.

The movie/book relationship has been around forever - but usually one exists before the other and the trailer existed to promote the movie, not the book (there is no film version for this book). After seeing the trailer, it seems like an obvious way to boost readership for a series who's target demographic is likely to be motivated by visuals of zombies, ninjas and hot young women.

I've been intrigued by Pride & Prejudice & Zombies for quite a while now (solely on the book cover and title), but this trailer just convinced me to get the books (the trailer is for the prequel book - exploring how Elizabeth Bennett became such a great zombie hunter).

The genius behind this series of books (as well as Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters, Android Karenina, and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter) is publisher Quick Classics.

It makes sense that a company that is reinventing old literary classics is reinventing the way that books are marketed.

Yup... definitely doomed.

So with all the civil war, oil spills and financial crises happening on Planet Earth these days, it is especially unnerving to be reading about researchers creating a completely new organism with a man-made synthetic cell.

The man behind it all defends up the discovery with this:

"I think they're going to potentially create a new industrial revolution," he said.

"If we can really get cells to do the production that we want, they could help wean us off oil and reverse some of the damage to the environment by capturing carbon dioxide."

Dr Venter and his colleagues are already collaborating with pharmaceutical and fuel companies to design and develop chromosomes for bacteria that would produce useful fuels and new vaccines.

Awesome. Probably what we need to do with brand new, man-made bacteria is put it in the hands of oil & gas companies and drug companies. Totally logical, as they are constantly proving that they're equipped to handle this kind of thing - BP and Halliburton especially - give it to them first. Perhaps they can give it to some CEOs on Wall Street, some Tea Partiers, the EU, Arizona, Homeland Security, Facebook, defense contractors, and politicians all over the world as well and see what they can do with it. Maybe Texas and their police can spray everyone with it while they spy on its citizens with their unmanned drones. Asshats.

I think one of the detractors got it right:

Dr Helen Wallace from Genewatch UK, an organisation that monitors developments in genetic technologies, told BBC News that synthetic bacteria could be dangerous.

"If you release new organisms into the environment, you can do more harm than good," she said.

"By releasing them into areas of pollution, [with the aim of cleaning it up], you're actually releasing a new kind of pollution.

"We don't know how these organisms will behave in the environment."

 I suppose it is appropriate that we're in zombie awareness month, as we can use I Am Legend as a cautionary tale (btw - if you haven't seen the Director's Cut alternate ending for I Am Legend, watch it here)