In 1955 author Jack Finney published a novel entitled The Body Snatchers, first serialised in Collier’s Magazine the year before. It describes the fictional town of Santa Mira, California being invaded by seeds that have drifted to Earth from space. The seeds replace sleeping people with perfect physical duplicates grown from plantlike pods, while their human victims turn to dust. The duplicates live only five years, and they cannot sexually reproduce. Consequently, … Continue reading →