the selfish gene: latest in our supercurricular lecture programme

This evening saw the latest - and penultimate for this year - of our supercurricular community lectures, and we were proud to welcome Biology teacher and Doctoral student Zoe Hulme to our Theatre to deliver a lecture on the Selfish Gene:

Mrs Hulme took us on an interactive and visual tour of the theories of evolution and natural selection, epigenetics, and the core Selfish Gene theory posited by Richard Dawkins in his ground-breaking and influential book of the same name, that informed Mrs Hulme's own early undergraduate studies at Bangor University, as well as many, many others.

Using visual media and engaging delivery, Mrs Hulme talked us through the theory of natural selection as it has been demonstrated for time immemorial in both the animal and human kingdoms, deploying examples from species as diverse as peacocks, birds of paradise, lions, spring bocks, bees, humans, and the iconic character and toy for those of us a certain generation: He-Man.

We learnt a great deal of insightful information about the genetic science of mating rituals, gene pools, genetic coding, the evolutionary programming behind a mother's love, reproductive altruism, and the fascinating concept of Kin Theory.

The audience was left with much to contemplate, and to philosophise upon: can genes survive better via altruism?

It was great to see how engaged and invested all in the audience were for this lecture, which succeeded in being as informative as it was entertaining, and as intellectually stretching as it was accessible.

And it was fantastic that it was not only Sixth Form students, scientists and aspiring medics, and staff, who came along, but Year 7s also; and all were clearly inspired, stretched and entertained by Mrs Hulme's thought-provoking lecture.

With huge thanks to Mrs Hulme for presenting, to Miss Hammond for organising, and to the students and staff who supported the event.

The final lecture in our programme for this year will take place in July and see us transported to the realm of Linguistics. Watch this space for updates and we cannot wait!