Genetic Determinism
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the theory of Genetic Determinism. In the middle of the last century two men - Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, and Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, established the central theories of modern biology and changed the world forever. Darwin’s On the Origin of Species has been described as the book of the Millennium, “the only best-seller to change man’s conception of himself”. Through the rediscovery of Mendel’s work in the early decades of our century, evolutionary theory was transformed by the emergence of genetics as a science. Crick and Watson found DNA at Cambridge and announced that they had discovered the secret of life in a local pub, and the rest has been the most compulsive element in the intellectual history of the twentieth century. It seems as if almost every week we read about another gene which claims to determine our fate - whether it governs our intelligence, personality or sexual orientation. Many rail against what they see as “genetic determinism” - the idea that genes are the destiny we can do nothing about. Others willingly blame their anti-social behaviour on “criminal genes” - thus absolving themselves of any responsibility. Genetics may be all about inheritance but is inheritance all about the genes?
Guests
- Steve Jones
22 episodes
Professor of Genetics, University College, London -
Matt Ridley No other episodes
science journalist, chairman of the International Centre for Life
Related episodes
-
Genetics
13 Dec, 2001 570 Biology -
Genetic Engineering
14 Jan, 1999 570 Biology -
Evolutionary Psychology
2 Nov, 2000 150 Psychology -
Genetic Mutation
6 Dec, 2007 570 Biology -
Chance and Design
13 Feb, 2003 210 Philosophy and theory of religion -
Social Darwinism
20 Feb, 2014 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology -
Lamarck and Natural Selection
26 Dec, 2003 570 Biology -
Evolution
15 Apr, 1999 570 Biology -
Free Will
10 Mar, 2011 100 Philosophy -
Darwin: On the Origin of Species
7 Jan, 2009 570 Biology -
Human Nature
7 Nov, 2002 150 Psychology -
Human Evolution
16 Feb, 2006 560 Fossils and prehistoric life -
Darwin: On the Origins of Charles Darwin
5 Jan, 2009 570 Biology -
Good and Evil
1 Apr, 1999 200 Religion -
Alfred Russel Wallace
21 Mar, 2013 570 Biology -
Darwin: The Voyage of the Beagle
6 Jan, 2009 570 Biology -
Lysenkoism
5 Jun, 2008 570 Biology -
Darwin: Life After Origins
8 Jan, 2009 570 Biology -
Science in the 20th century
5 Nov, 1998 500 Science -
Feminism
7 Jan, 1999 300 Social sciences, sociology and anthropology
Programme ID: p005461w
Episode page: bbc.co.uk/programmes/p005461w
Auto-category: 576.5 (Genetics and evolution)