#518 Andrew Berry: The History of Evolutionary Biology (Pt. 2) - Genetics, and Speciation
RECORDED ON MAY 28th 2021.
Dr. Andrew Berry is a lecturer in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology. He is an evolutionary biologist with a particular interest in Alfred Russel Wallace. His research combined field and laboratory methods to detect positive Darwinian selection (i.e. adaptive evolution) at the molecular level in natural populations. He has published two books: Infinite tropics: an Alfred Russel Wallace Anthology, with a foreword written by Stephen Jay Gould, and DNA: The Secret of Life with James Watson.
This is the second part of our 2-part episode on the history of evolutionary theory/biology.
You can find part 1 here: https://youtu.be/8dFa2Y2XO4k
In this episode, we start with population genetics, its early developments, how it led to the development of inclusive fitness theory, and what happened after the discovery of the double-helix structure of the DNA, what we learn about evolution by natural selection by understanding genetics, and how to detect adaptive evolution on the level of the genome. We then discuss speciation, what we know about it, and some of the controversies there. We address specifically the question of why there are more species more densely packed as one moves from the poles to the Equator. Finally, we talk about what we can learn by studying evolution in islands.
Time Links:
Intro
The history of (population) genetics
What genetics teaches us about evolution
Adaptive evolution on the level of the genome
Speciation – what we know about how it works
More densely packed species in the Equator
Evolution in islands
Follow Dr. Berry’s work!
Follow Dr. Berry’s work:
University page: https://bit.ly/3msGlYE
Harvard website: https://bit.ly/37vdbC2
Works on ResearchGate: https://bit.ly/37rBNez
Infinite tropics: an Alfred Russel Wallace Anthology: https://amzn.to/2KY5f4v
DNA: The Secret of Life: https://amzn.to/3ogg9ke