Geneticist, science writer, broadcaster, and author of the books Creation: The Origin Of Life/The Future Of Life and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. @adamrutherford
That’s a question at the root of the study of the origin of life. It’s a lot to do with information theory – which is a whole academic field that I don’t really understand – but we can... Читать далее
Geneticist, science writer, broadcaster, and author of the books Creation: The Origin Of Life/The Future Of Life and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. @adamrutherford
In genetics, what are the most important things we still don’t know?
Absolutely loads. Genetics is effectively a century old. When we got to the Human Genome Project in 2001, and had a much more molecular understanding of how DNA works, it turned out that... Читать далее
Geneticist, science writer, broadcaster, and author of the books Creation: The Origin Of Life/The Future Of Life and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. @adamrutherford
Why do we take after our parents and grandparents in some areas more than others?
We look more like our parents because we share more DNA with them than we do with people who are not in our immediate family. That’s the basic answer, where biological inheritance is conce... Читать далее
Geneticist, science writer, broadcaster, and author of the books Creation: The Origin Of Life/The Future Of Life and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. @adamrutherford
Will my genes change during my lifetime, and will that change my body?
There are two answers to that. The first is no. Your code is passed on in sperm and eggs, and the code within them is set at your conception. It’s locked into the egg and locked into the... Читать далее
Geneticist, science writer, broadcaster, and author of the books Creation: The Origin Of Life/The Future Of Life and A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived. @adamrutherford
How can we be sure that the genetic modification of plants and animals won’t have serious unforeseen consequences?
The simplest answer – and I hope I won’t be quote-mined on this – is that we can’t. Biology is messy, and unpredictable, and there’s the glib old Jurassic Park line that ‘life will find a... Читать далее