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Is human evolution over? Professor Steve Jones kicks off autumn UCL Lunch Hour Lectures

19 September 2008

Professor Steve Jones will pose the question of whether the human race is in decline at the first UCL Lunch Hour Lecture this autumn, on Tuesday 7 October 2008 at University College London.

Plenty of people are surviving who once did not, or are having children when once they would have stayed celibate, and medicine can now offer treatment for many with damaged genes that can then be passed on. Many people are worried about what this might do to future generations. Professor Steve Jones, UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment, will argue that everything we know about the process of evolution tells us that - at least in the developed world, and at least for the time being - human evolution has slowed down or stopped.

Other lectures that will run this autumn include:

  • The zen of running - Dr Alan Latham (UCL Geography) - Tuesday 21 October 2008
  • Darwin, microbes and the increase in chronic inflammatory diseases - Professor Graham Rook (UCL Centre for Infectious Diseases) -Tuesday 28 October 2008
  • Do we need a British bill of rights and a written constitution? - Professor Richard Bellamy (UCL Political Science) - Thursday 13 November 2008
  • From 'grey goo' to nanomedicine: self-assembling nanostructures - Professor Thomas Rademacher (UCL Infection and Immunity) - Thursday 27 November 2008
  • Earthquake vulnerability: An engineer's perspective - Dr Tiziana Rossetto (UCL Engineering)- Tuesday 2 December 2008

UCL Lunch Hour Lectures are free and open to all. The full list of lectures for autumn 2008 can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lhl/.

Notes for Editors

1. Admission is free without a ticket, no need to book. However, entry is on a first-come first-served basis.

2. Lectures are held in the Darwin Lecture Theatre, University College London, Gower Street (entrance via Malet Place), London WC1E 6BT. Lectures run from 1.15 pm to 1.55 pm.

3. The full listing of UCL Lunch Hour Lectures for autumn 2008 can be found at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/lhl/.

4. Journalists seeking more information can contact Jenny Gimpel in the UCL Media Relations Office on tel: +44 (0)20 7679 9726, mobile: +44 (0)7747 565 056, out of hours +44 (0)7917 271 364, e-mail: j.gimpel@ucl.ac.uk.