Genetics Unzipped The Genetics Society

Over the first four episodes of this series we’ve looked at COVID-19, historic epidemics, human evolution and the human genome and in each episode we’ve invariably talked about ‘sequencing’. Sequencing genomes and DNA of living things. So we thought it time to discuss the very act of sequencing itself. What is it, how do we do it, why do we do it and how can we get better at as technology improves.

We bring you exclusive excerpts from my new book, Rebel Cell: Cancer, evolution and the science of life, exploring where cancer came from, where it’s going, and how we might beat it.

Over millions of years Humans have evolved into becoming quite the dominant species on the planet. So, how did we get to now? What have we come from and how are we still evolving as a species? And what changes can we expect in the future in terms of diet, life span and population?

We look at the ancient war between our genes and the pathogens that infect us, going back thousands of years to the Black Death and before, through to our very latest foe.

The Human Genome Project has been referred to as one of the great feats of scientific exploration and discovery in human history. But what was it, and, more to the point, what is the human genome and why was sequencing it such a big deal? And in 2020, some 17 years after it was deemed completed, what has it helped us with in the fields of biology and medicine, and what is there still to discover?

Robin Ince is joined by three experts in the field. Geneticist, broadcast and author of a number of best selling books on the subject, Dr Adam Rutherford, one of the founders of the Human Cell Atlas Group and the Head of Cellular Genetics at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Dr Sarah Teichmann and co-chair of the 1000 Genomes Project and founder of Genomics plc, Professor Gil McVean.

We take a look at the world of epigenetics - finding out if more than DNA passes on to the next generation, whether Darwin was wrong, and how to pimp your genome. Plus, meet the Mickey Mouse Mice.