When I recently told a taxi driver that I was on my way to give a lecture on evolution in northern Germany, the young man asked me, looking straight ahead, “So, do you think Darwin got it right?” A bit taken aback, I answered that yes, by and large, Darwin had got it just right – only to be…
We know that particular genetic sequences can help us to survive in our environment – this is the basis of evolution. But demonstrating which genetic sequences are beneficial and how they help us to survive is not easy – especially in wild populations. Jarek Bryk describes some relevant recent…
Lucy Patterson talks to Èlia Benito Gutierrez, from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany, about how Èlia’s favourite animal, amphioxus, could be the key to understanding the evolution of vertebrates.
In 2009, the world celebrates the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Emmanuel Reynaud revisits the story of the vessel aboard which the foundations for Darwin’s publication were laid.
Conspiracies are at the heart of many a good film and book. Swedish biology teacher Per Kornhall is the author of a critical book on intelligent design and how it is taught in biology lessons in religious schools in Sweden. He talks to Sai Pathmanathan and Marlene Rau about his fascination with…
Mico Tatalovic from the University of Cambridge, UK, investigates the private lives of meerkats. Why do these small carnivores live in groups? Why do they feed each other’s pups, dig together and guard each other? And what makes a really good sentinel?
An enormous meteorite impact and then a rocky flight from Mars. Is that how life appeared on Earth? Cornelia Meyer takes us on a space trip through the lithopanspermia theory and describes how she is putting it to the test with the help of student colleagues.
Steve Jones talks to Vienna Leigh about the startling re-emergence of creationism in Europe, how teachers can help, and why he will never argue with a creationist.
