Genetics Unzipped

In this episode exploring great ideas in genetics, we’re discovering our inner fish - finding out whether we really do go through a fishy phase in the womb, and looking at the legacy of Tiktaalik, the first fish to walk on land.

Born in 1834, Ernst Haeckel was a German zoologist with a flair for illustration - and a knack for creating incredibly detailed and widely shared scientific images. But do his infamous embryo drawings really show the true picture of early development?

Haeckel thought that we went through a 'fish' stage in the womb because our embryos appear to have gills during early development. Although his theory that 'ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny' has subsequently been shown to be incorrect, we now know there is a close connection between development and evolution, or 'evo-devo' as it's sometimes known.

In short, our evolutionary history is written in our developmental genes, and it’s a history that we can trace right the way back to the very first vertebrates. The best example of this is Tiktaalik - our oldest 'fishapod' ancestor that forms the missing link between fish and land-dwelling tetrapods.

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

It’s become cheaper and easier than ever to access genetic testing, and more and more people are having their genomes ‘done’ for reasons of personal interest, health or ancestry. But what happens when an innocent genetic investigation reveals dark family secrets? And how do we properly engage and inform people about genetic testing and research, so that they really know what they’re getting into?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is written and presented by Kat Arney, and produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Production by Hannah Varrall.

In this episode from our centenary series exploring 100 ideas in genetics, we’re exploring a couple of iconic images in evolution - the much-parodied March of Progress, portraying the inexorable journey from monkey to man, and the famous finches of the Galapagos islands, which are supposedly the inspiration for Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Where did these infamous images come from, and do they really show what everyone seems to think they do?

Full show notes, transcript, music credits and references online at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Genetics Unzipped is presented by Kat Arney, with scripting and research by Emily Nordvang, and is produced by First Create the Media for the Genetics Society - one of the oldest learned societies in the world dedicated to supporting and promoting the research, teaching and application of genetics. Audio production by Hannah Varrall.

Professor Turi King from the University of Leicester reveals the secrets of the Y chromosome and how the remains of Richard III were identified.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

The Celts are one of the most famous - and misunderstood - people who lived in ancient Britain. Professor Sir Barry Cunliffe CBE, FBA from the University of Oxford explores the myths and the reality.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Dr Lara Cassidy from Trinity College Dublin talks about her work exploring the genomic history of Ireland.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Sir Walter Bodmer FRS from the Weatherall Institute, Oxford, explains what we know so far about genetic structure and origins of populations of the British Isles.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Dr Silvia Bello from the Natural History Museum in London is investigating how patterns of human behaviour have changed over the last million years.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Ian Barnes and Dr Selina Brace, ancient DNA researchers at the Natural History Museum in Lopndon, discuss how their work on ancient DNA is shedding light on the British population from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work. and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute

Professor Nick Ashton, an archaeologist at the British Museum, is studying the earliest humans in Europe.

Part of our special series from the 2019 Galton Institute Symposium - New Light on Old Britons.

Presented and produced by Georgia Mills for First Create The Media.

More info at GeneticsUnzipped.com

Follow us on Twitter @GeneticsUnzip

Visit the Galton Institute website to find out more about the society and its work. and follow them on Twitter @GaltonInstitute