Artificial Selection: How Humans have Shaped Evolution - Robin May

Enjoying our lectures? Please take a minute to answer 4 questions to tell us what you think!

We often think of evolution as ‘something that happened’ in the past. But of course, evolution is a constant, powerful process and one that is often unleashed by human behaviours.

Often this is deliberate, we’ll look at how artificial selection has shaped our crops, livestock and domestic pets, and we’ll find out how modern science is uncovering the genetic changes that lie beneath. But sometimes human behaviours unleash powerful and altogether less welcome evolutionary forces…join us as we uncover them together!

This lecture was recorded by Robin May on 20th March 2024 at Barnard's Inn Hall, London

Robin is Gresham Professor of Physic.

He is also Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and Professor of Infectious Disease at the University of Birmingham.

The transcript and downloadable versions of the lecture are available from the Gresham College website:

[genier]

Another excellent talk. I have missed learning and talking about science since I left school as none of my friends are interested in it. I appreciate the easy access to great speakers from Gresham.

[CuriousCyclist]

I love these lectures. Keep them coming. 👍

[cletabomba]

Wonderful lecture, totally fascinating. Always looking forward to the next 😊

[ozachar]

Amazing model proof of various key themes: (1) evolution can act/be very fast, in just a few generations. (2) behavior treats are genetic. And more....

[gyeboor]

Bearing an interest in the microbiom.. This rendition was tailormade for me, I would cherish a meet with this distingushed intellectual later on because as it is, I am not upro date or prepared to engage such a massive mind/intellectual.

It helps that I can understand the English! Being an very black African who somehow got born in an ex colonial "territory" in the African continent.

The west, the civilized lot, has yet to understand Afrika...

All in all, kudos/congratulations to the whole swt up, gd bless.

[fullnewsky]

Amazing talk. Love each and every one of these ❤

[brucethomas]

Excellent talk. I am astonished that humans could ever be super small or tall, like dogs, if bred that way. But some young basketball players are 7 foot 5 inches or 2.25 meters! Some selection must be going on here, and one can wonder how far that will, or can, go.

[ameeen]

Very informative session. Unfortunately there very less content on artificial selection online

[gretasimmons]

What do you think about village dogs, dog that aren't influenced / shaped by people. They are various types and sizes. Coming from many different places/ countrys

[johnbray]

can you get rid of the pulsing dot on the secondary screens?

[annayosh]

Regarding the development of antibiotics, antibiotic resistance in a cruel way is worsening the economic aspect of this. Suppose a totally new antibiotic would be discovered or developed now, it would most probably be kept away so that we have something we can use against bacteria that are resistant to all 'normal' antibiotics.

[bentationfunkiloglio]

I never fully appreciated how fascinating evolution is until I took the time to create some toy AI genetic algorithms. In particular, I was surprised by how sensitive evolution is to rates of mutations. A little bit goes a long way.

[petersq]

use of antibiotics in husbandry has purely technical motivation. chicken and other livestock kept in such a crowed environment that foster and excelletates bacterial and fungal endemic.

[MarcosElMalo]

Species interaction guiding evolution goes back even further. Example: mitochondria.

[larrytuft]

Please make one about politicians priests and peeping toms

[ALavin-enkr]

There is also the possibility that humans as humans started at the prototype and devolved. In that case there would be devolution, evolution, and involution to the prototype again. Dogs of course are a separate story.

[stoobydootoo]

No dogs are "dodgy"; but all are doggy!

[stoobydootoo]

But humans were produced by evolution. So isn't our influencing evolution a result of evolution generally? Whether it will ultimately be 'successful' is a moot point - nearly all species have died out.

[PaulHigginbothamSr]

What would be very beneficial to humans is a cat that does not carry a disease very not beneficial to humans. This disease which is not beneficial to humans is selected for the cat species is a disease which makes rodents not afraid of cats but causes a degenerative disease in human mental capability. Thus a cat that does not carry the disease that is easily spread to humans would be very beneficial to humans or the disease in humans which leads to human high incarceration rates. Like low ability in humans to have poor impulse resistivity.

[armyman]

Lol this is interfering with evolution not speeding it up