Q&A - Genetics as Revolution - 2015 JBS Haldane Lecture
4,487 views · Published 3 February 2016 · 16:33 · Indexed 20 September 2026
Channel: The Royal Institution · 2016 · Science & Technology
Professor Alison Woollard answers questions from the audience after her JBS Haldane Lecture. Why is the cabbage genome bigger than ours? Was Mendel dishonest with his data? Can gene editing bring a cure for cystic fibrosis? Watch the full 2015 Genetics Society JBS Haldane Lecture here: https://youtu.be/gAOPxpm_3EA Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe It is an everyday observation that the offspring of elephants are elephants and the offspring of humans are humans. Our biology is, quite literally, written in our DNA, and the copying and transmission of this genetic information is the most extraordinary process on earth. The ideas of genetics are revolutionary, from Mendel’s perfect 19th century description of the mechanism of heredity, through the molecular revolutions of the 20th century to the present day. Today, new technologies are galvanising disruptive change, not only in our understanding of biology, but in our ability to intervene in the very nature of life itself. What can we change? How? Why? And indeed, should we meddle at all? “The bravest”, said Thucydides, “Are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it”. Find out more about the JBS Haldane Lectures on the Genetics Society website: http://www.genetics.org.uk/Prizes/JBSHaldaneLecture.aspx Watch Alison Woollard’s 2015 CHRISTMAS LECTURES: http://richannel.org/christmas-lectures/2013/life-fantastic Alison Woollard is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Oxford where she is also a Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. She gave the 2013 CHRISTMAS LECTURES, 'Life Fantastic' Subscribe for regular science videos: http://bit.ly/RiSubscRibe The Ri is on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ri_science and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/royalinstitution and Tumblr: http://ri-science.tumblr.com/ Our editorial policy: http://www.rigb.org/home/editorial-policy Subscribe for the latest science videos: http://bit.ly/RiNewsletter
