All in Animals
As the only species that has been able to evolve to a point where we can read our own genetic code and start asking big questions about how it works and how it makes us who we are, we can perhaps be forgiven for thinking that the human genome is still pretty darn amazing – certainly more special than a onion. But is it true?
After a decade of work and billions of dollars, the first draft of the human genome was assembled in 2001. But for all the claims that we had finally unlocked the secrets of human biology and were setting off into a new era of gene-driven medicine, there was one rather glaring issue with this genomic book of life: where were all the genes?
Actual genes make up less than 2% of all the DNA in the whole human genome. So what’s all the rest? Is it just junk? The exact quantity and function of all this non-coding DNA is still a hot topic in the world of genetics, and – like the exact number of genes – seems to depend on how you measure it and who you ask.
We hear a lot about genetic fingerprinting, but what about the genetics of fingerprints? Dr Sally Le Page looks at the evolution of fingerprints in primates and koalas, why we have them, and what they can tell us about life before we were born.
Cannibalising your relatives doesn’t seem to be a one off, but a behaviour that has been deliberately and repeatedly selected for. So how can eating your family be a good thing for your genes? Presenter, Dr Sally Le Page, explores the gruesome evolution of family dinners, from offspring eating their mothers, siblings eating each other and parents eating their own children. Kids meal, anyone?
Squid biologist Dr Sarah McAnulty explains what squid are, how they evolved, and why they are so difficult to genetically modify.
Presenter Dr Kat Arney explores how Professor Ben Lehner’s worm-breaking research has changed our understanding of the importance of randomness in genetics. How can we explain differences between individuals with identical nature and nurture? Perhaps there’s another factor involved; the ‘wobble’...
From six-toed cats to cyclops lambs, we explore the fascinating story and science behind the Sonic Hedgehog gene.
Helen Pilcher explains how humans have shaped the evolutionary trajectories of the species living alongside us on the planet.
Bill Ritchie is the embryologist who carried out the cloning procedure that led to the creation of Dolly the Sheep.
