{"version":"1.0.0","segments":[{"startTime":5.065,"endTime":8.788,"body":"So today what I want to talk to you about, um, is a blink of"},{"startTime":8.788,"endTime":9.285,"body":"an eye."},{"startTime":9.345,"endTime":11.805,"body":"In evolutionary terms, 300,000 years."},{"startTime":11.915,"endTime":13.885,"body":"It's a, a kind of moment in time."},{"startTime":14.305,"endTime":18.565,"body":"Um, for most organisms on this planet, it wouldn't even be worth thinking about."},{"startTime":18.675,"endTime":20.645,"body":"It's such a brief, uh, dalliance."},{"startTime":21.185,"endTime":23.725,"body":"But we of course, as a species are incredibly young."},{"startTime":23.745,"endTime":25.165,"body":"We haven't been here for very long."},{"startTime":25.505,"endTime":27.965,"body":"Um, and at the rate we're going, we might not be here for much longer."},{"startTime":28.305,"endTime":32.221,"body":"Uh, uh, so we are a, a kind of in ourselves a very brief, uh,"},{"startTime":32.221,"endTime":33.005,"body":"moment in history."},{"startTime":33.185,"endTime":37.172,"body":"Um, and so actually 300,000 years for us feels like a long time, even if"},{"startTime":37.172,"endTime":39.565,"body":"in planetary terms, it's the blink of an eye."},{"startTime":39.585,"endTime":44.555,"body":"So the question is, with that very brief slice of time, can we learn anything"},{"startTime":44.555,"endTime":44.886,"body":"useful about human evolution by looking at that, um, and what it might mean for"},{"startTime":44.886,"endTime":51.845,"body":"our understanding of who we are today?"},{"startTime":52.965,"endTime":57.387,"body":"The Gresham College lecture that you're listening to right now is giving you knowledge and"},{"startTime":57.387,"endTime":57.682,"body":"insight from one of the world's leading academic experts, making it takes a lot of"},{"startTime":57.682,"endTime":62.105,"body":"time."},{"startTime":62.605,"endTime":65.811,"body":"But because we want to encourage a love of learning, we think it's well worth"},{"startTime":65.811,"endTime":66.025,"body":"it."},{"startTime":66.965,"endTime":70.145,"body":"We never make you pay for lectures, although donations are needed."},{"startTime":70.565,"endTime":71.825,"body":"All we ask in return is this."},{"startTime":72.335,"endTime":74.625,"body":"Send a link to this lecture to someone you think would benefit."},{"startTime":75.045,"endTime":79.095,"body":"And if you haven't already, click the follow or subscribe button from wherever you are"},{"startTime":79.095,"endTime":79.905,"body":"listening right now."},{"startTime":80.965,"endTime":82.545,"body":"Now, let's get back to the lecture."},{"startTime":84.805,"endTime":89.742,"body":"And when we think about evolution, um, there's a kind of straightforward and simple rule,"},{"startTime":89.742,"endTime":92.705,"body":"really, which is that evolution is basically about reproduction."},{"startTime":93.555,"endTime":99.065,"body":"Stuff that has an impact on your reproduction, and most importantly, on your offspring's."},{"startTime":99.225,"endTime":105.025,"body":"Reproduction is really important for evolution and stuff that doesn't is completely irrelevant."},{"startTime":105.605,"endTime":109.419,"body":"So, um, so if I look around this hall, uh, for example, there are some"},{"startTime":109.419,"endTime":109.673,"body":"people here who are gonna be massively shaped by evolution because they're at the start"},{"startTime":109.673,"endTime":114.505,"body":"of their potential reproductive journey."},{"startTime":114.535,"endTime":117.776,"body":"They may have children, they may not have children, um, they may have grandchildren, but"},{"startTime":117.776,"endTime":119.505,"body":"all of those things are still for play."},{"startTime":119.505,"endTime":124.137,"body":"For if you are like me pushing the wrong end of your reproductive life, you're"},{"startTime":124.137,"endTime":127.225,"body":"becoming significantly less and less important in terms of evolution."},{"startTime":127.485,"endTime":132.953,"body":"Um, and of course, once you've reproduced and your post reproductive, anything or nothing that"},{"startTime":132.953,"endTime":135.505,"body":"happens to you is invisible to evolution."},{"startTime":135.805,"endTime":136.865,"body":"And that's an important point."},{"startTime":136.965,"endTime":141.633,"body":"I'm laboring that point because we often ask questions about why do we have this"},{"startTime":141.633,"endTime":141.945,"body":"disease?"},{"startTime":142.165,"endTime":143.545,"body":"Why is this problem come up now?"},{"startTime":144.005,"endTime":147.545,"body":"And quite often the answer to that question is 'cause evolution doesn't care."},{"startTime":147.575,"endTime":151.585,"body":"It's irrelevant 'cause it has no direct impact on reproduction."},{"startTime":153.285,"endTime":157.752,"body":"So broadly speaking, evolution boils down to the question of how many offspring do you"},{"startTime":157.752,"endTime":161.625,"body":"have and how many of those offspring go on to have offspring themselves."},{"startTime":162.085,"endTime":163.465,"body":"Um, and so you can compare that."},{"startTime":163.465,"endTime":166.345,"body":"This is a, a little example from, uh, the British royal family, for example."},{"startTime":166.345,"endTime":170.945,"body":"So here is Queen Victoria, um, surrounded by a couple of generations of her family."},{"startTime":171.085,"endTime":173.225,"body":"She was very evolutionary successful, right?"},{"startTime":173.225,"endTime":174.865,"body":"There are a lot of offspring here."},{"startTime":175.125,"endTime":179.085,"body":"Um, and actually if you, if you're a kind of budding historian and you look"},{"startTime":179.085,"endTime":179.349,"body":"at the royal families of Europe, you can see a sort of genetic legacy of"},{"startTime":179.349,"endTime":184.365,"body":"Queen Victoria right across Europe."},{"startTime":184.745,"endTime":189.245,"body":"Um, that in evolutionary terms, very successful, uh, not so great over here."},{"startTime":189.245,"endTime":191.525,"body":"This is William and Mary from the glorious revolution."},{"startTime":191.905,"endTime":192.845,"body":"No children of their own."},{"startTime":192.865,"endTime":196.205,"body":"And in fact, uh, Mary's sister Ann, who took throne, had no children either."},{"startTime":196.265,"endTime":198.925,"body":"And of course, this is why the throne changed hands."},{"startTime":199.305,"endTime":203.765,"body":"Um, so evolutionarily speaking, that lineage essentially went extinct."},{"startTime":204.425,"endTime":206.365,"body":"Why am I putting out pictures of kings and queens here?"},{"startTime":206.365,"endTime":210.667,"body":"The point about this is that if we are measuring evolution and measuring impacts, the"},{"startTime":210.667,"endTime":210.954,"body":"really important thing to measure are these things here, the kids and their children and"},{"startTime":210.954,"endTime":216.405,"body":"so on and so forth."},{"startTime":216.465,"endTime":222.034,"body":"And we need to think about that in terms of features, behaviors, things that change"},{"startTime":222.034,"endTime":225.005,"body":"the survival or reproduction, um, of our children."},{"startTime":225.785,"endTime":229.245,"body":"So it all ultimately boils down, uh, to babies like this."},{"startTime":229.245,"endTime":229.885,"body":"Still cute one here."},{"startTime":229.975,"endTime":231.245,"body":"She's, she's not so cute anymore."},{"startTime":231.245,"endTime":234.245,"body":"She probably won't be very happy about this, uh, baby photo of my teenage daughter"},{"startTime":234.245,"endTime":235.045,"body":"being on the screen."},{"startTime":235.045,"endTime":239.111,"body":"But nevermind, um, when, when it gets taken down on YouTube, you'll know she's filed"},{"startTime":239.111,"endTime":239.925,"body":"an official complaint."},{"startTime":240.465,"endTime":244.445,"body":"Uh, so it's all about the survival and reproduction, um, of babies."},{"startTime":245.385,"endTime":251.799,"body":"And so if we think about evolution, the strongest forces in shaping all evolution, but"},{"startTime":251.799,"endTime":252.227,"body":"in particular human evolution are, are those that impact on infant survival and ultimately on"},{"startTime":252.227,"endTime":259.925,"body":"their reproductive, uh, success."},{"startTime":261.144,"endTime":264.64,"body":"So, um, if we look for example, at this data from the WHO from a"},{"startTime":264.64,"endTime":267.205,"body":"few years ago now, uh, this is a pretty grim slide."},{"startTime":267.205,"endTime":271.93,"body":"This is a slide of, uh, what means that babies date survive infant mortality under"},{"startTime":271.93,"endTime":272.245,"body":"five."},{"startTime":272.435,"endTime":272.725,"body":"Okay?"},{"startTime":272.725,"endTime":273.485,"body":"The leading cause."},{"startTime":274.265,"endTime":277.404,"body":"And if you look at that data, first of all, foremost, I think it's important"},{"startTime":277.404,"endTime":280.125,"body":"to say this is actually a tragic indictment of where we are today."},{"startTime":280.365,"endTime":285.207,"body":"'cause many, many, many of these things are preventable, um, and should not be causing"},{"startTime":285.207,"endTime":285.53,"body":"infant uh, mortality, but they are because of inequality and poverty and all the other"},{"startTime":285.53,"endTime":285.853,"body":"things that go with it, that notwithstanding in evolutionary terms, if we look at these"},{"startTime":285.853,"endTime":298.445,"body":"leading causes of death, the majority of them are infectious diseases."},{"startTime":298.675,"endTime":298.965,"body":"Okay?"},{"startTime":298.985,"endTime":303.725,"body":"So at a first approximation, your biggest risk if you're a newborn human infant on"},{"startTime":303.725,"endTime":306.885,"body":"planet earth is something that will infect you early on."},{"startTime":307.705,"endTime":309.565,"body":"And if it infects you and it kills you, that's it."},{"startTime":309.565,"endTime":313.765,"body":"You're removed from the gene pool, your evolution, um, re contribution has finished."},{"startTime":314.785,"endTime":320.142,"body":"So we might expect then that if we are looking for evidence of what has"},{"startTime":320.142,"endTime":320.499,"body":"shaped human evolution, that these infectious forces will be the place where we are most"},{"startTime":320.499,"endTime":320.856,"body":"likely, uh, to find that evidence and, um, to a first approximation, then infection is"},{"startTime":320.856,"endTime":332.285,"body":"a big evolutionary problem."},{"startTime":332.505,"endTime":336.645,"body":"And things that overcome infection are big evolutionary successes."},{"startTime":338.305,"endTime":343.863,"body":"So can we learn about those processes over the last 300,000 years by looking at"},{"startTime":343.863,"endTime":344.605,"body":"human evolution?"},{"startTime":345.025,"endTime":349.233,"body":"And, uh, to quickly recap, for those of you who didn't see the previous lecture,"},{"startTime":349.233,"endTime":349.514,"body":"um, and with the caveat that these dates change all the time, this is an"},{"startTime":349.514,"endTime":354.565,"body":"incredibly fast moving field."},{"startTime":354.565,"endTime":357.685,"body":"People discover new fossils, new DNA all the time."},{"startTime":358.065,"endTime":361.05,"body":"Um, so with the caveat, this is probably wrong already and definitely will be by"},{"startTime":361.05,"endTime":362.245,"body":"the time I finish this lecture."},{"startTime":362.665,"endTime":368.082,"body":"Um, this roughly speaking is how we think of the evolution of our own species,"},{"startTime":368.082,"endTime":368.805,"body":"homo sapiens."},{"startTime":369.345,"endTime":371.685,"body":"So you roll the clock back, say 600,000 years."},{"startTime":372.065,"endTime":376.325,"body":"Um, this hominin species homo heidelbergensis is roaming Africa."},{"startTime":376.865,"endTime":381.27,"body":"Um, it spreads out from Africa to Europe where it devolves into the species we"},{"startTime":381.27,"endTime":382.445,"body":"know of as Neanderthals."},{"startTime":383.265,"endTime":387.849,"body":"It migrates across to Asia and becomes this enigmatic species, uh, about which we know"},{"startTime":387.849,"endTime":388.155,"body":"very little other than their DNA sequence and a few tiny fossils and called the"},{"startTime":388.155,"endTime":393.045,"body":"dead sa."},{"startTime":394.465,"endTime":399.681,"body":"And then subsequently about 300,000 years ago, that, uh, that species that has remained in"},{"startTime":399.681,"endTime":400.029,"body":"Africa has evolved again into what we would call anatomically modern humans migrate outta Europe"},{"startTime":400.029,"endTime":400.377,"body":"again and meet all these other species around the world, um, and go on to"},{"startTime":400.377,"endTime":413.245,"body":"populate the entire planet as we know it today."},{"startTime":414.145,"endTime":417.641,"body":"Um, and this graph, which I shared last time, lifted from the Natural History Museum,"},{"startTime":417.641,"endTime":420.205,"body":"um, shows us up here, homo sapiens at the top corner."},{"startTime":420.545,"endTime":425.352,"body":"And the fact that we now know that up until about 50,000 years ago, we"},{"startTime":425.352,"endTime":425.673,"body":"shared at least parts of the planet with these other species, certainly the de Saban"},{"startTime":425.673,"endTime":433.045,"body":"and als, and who knows possibly other species too."},{"startTime":435.505,"endTime":439.651,"body":"So the key and important fact about this is that we have a species anatomically"},{"startTime":439.651,"endTime":443.245,"body":"modern humans that evolved in Africa, that migrated out, they came into Europe."},{"startTime":443.625,"endTime":445.605,"body":"Um, and uh, we have this, uh, delightful phrase."},{"startTime":445.605,"endTime":450.085,"body":"The geneticists like to use add mixture, which basically means mating with other people."},{"startTime":450.585,"endTime":457.306,"body":"Um, and so admixture occurred, mating occurred between these, um, ancient but modern anatomically homo"},{"startTime":457.306,"endTime":457.755,"body":"sapiens and Neanderthals in Europe, and then again, uh, with this group called Denis over"},{"startTime":457.755,"endTime":464.925,"body":"in Asia."},{"startTime":465.145,"endTime":469.562,"body":"And so modern humans are this blend of these hybrid, uh, existences and you can"},{"startTime":469.562,"endTime":473.685,"body":"find out much more about that, um, from various sources online if you want."},{"startTime":474.915,"endTime":476.085,"body":"What, why am I telling you about this?"},{"startTime":476.145,"endTime":481.01,"body":"I'm telling you about this because this gives us a powerful tool to understand much"},{"startTime":481.01,"endTime":483.605,"body":"more about how evolution has shaped modern humans."},{"startTime":484.435,"endTime":489.465,"body":"Because we can look at these hybridization events or these ancient matings between homo sapiens"},{"startTime":489.465,"endTime":489.8,"body":"and other species, um, and we can look at the exchange of genes and we"},{"startTime":489.8,"endTime":490.135,"body":"can ask which of those genes have had an evolutionary consequence for us as a"},{"startTime":490.135,"endTime":503.885,"body":"species, and what does it tell us about the last, uh, 50,000 years?"},{"startTime":505.585,"endTime":507.205,"body":"So let me explain what I mean by that."},{"startTime":507.225,"endTime":510.045,"body":"So here we have, um, this ancient, uh, mating event."},{"startTime":510.185,"endTime":513.053,"body":"Um, and this is a, this is a PG lecture, so I'm going to show"},{"startTime":513.053,"endTime":513.245,"body":"skeletons."},{"startTime":513.465,"endTime":515.965,"body":"So here we have, uh, homo sapien skeleton."},{"startTime":516.905,"endTime":522.085,"body":"On the other side we have a neanderthal skeleton, very similar bit stockier, more chunky,"},{"startTime":522.085,"endTime":522.43,"body":"various anatomical differences that mean you can distinguish it, but broadly speaking, similar when any"},{"startTime":522.43,"endTime":532.445,"body":"two organisms mate, and hopefully you might remember this from your school, uh, biology lessons."},{"startTime":532.865,"endTime":536.805,"body":"Um, each of us carries two copies of each of our chromosomes."},{"startTime":536.985,"endTime":539.445,"body":"One inherited from my mum and one from our dad."},{"startTime":540.795,"endTime":544.933,"body":"When you produce sperm and eggs, they separate each sperm or egg getting one or"},{"startTime":544.933,"endTime":545.485,"body":"the other."},{"startTime":545.905,"endTime":549.518,"body":"And then when you make somebody else, one of theirs comes together with one of"},{"startTime":549.518,"endTime":551.205,"body":"yours and you get a new combination."},{"startTime":551.205,"endTime":553.805,"body":"Hopefully that's not new to anybody listening to this."},{"startTime":555.075,"endTime":559.965,"body":"When this ancient Neal and homo sapiens mated exactly the same process happened."},{"startTime":560.585,"endTime":565.668,"body":"So one homo sapiens chromosome was in a sperm or an egg, they mated with"},{"startTime":565.668,"endTime":566.007,"body":"this neandertal, one of their chromosomes came together and you end up with this two"},{"startTime":566.007,"endTime":566.346,"body":"one from each parent just like anybody else, the offspring of animating that includes all"},{"startTime":566.346,"endTime":578.885,"body":"of us in the room and all those listening."},{"startTime":579.025,"endTime":583.331,"body":"So you have two chromosomes when you produce your own sperm eggs, those two chromosomes"},{"startTime":583.331,"endTime":583.618,"body":"that you've got, one from mom and one from dad, do a process called crossing"},{"startTime":583.618,"endTime":587.925,"body":"over."},{"startTime":588.465,"endTime":593.648,"body":"So before you produce sperm eggs, they come together and they exchange bits of DNA"},{"startTime":593.648,"endTime":594.685,"body":"between each other."},{"startTime":595.305,"endTime":599.66,"body":"And so what you end up with when you produce, for example, an egg cell"},{"startTime":599.66,"endTime":599.951,"body":"is not a cell that has just your mum's chromosome or just your dad's, but"},{"startTime":599.951,"endTime":600.241,"body":"they have a chromosome that has, for example, been inherited from your dad, but with"},{"startTime":600.241,"endTime":610.405,"body":"bits of your mum's or vice versa."},{"startTime":611.385,"endTime":614.365,"body":"And this is one of the processes by which we get variation."},{"startTime":614.365,"endTime":617.465,"body":"And this is why we don't all look like an exact clone of our grandmother"},{"startTime":617.465,"endTime":618.085,"body":"or our grandfather."},{"startTime":618.385,"endTime":624.436,"body":"Uh, but even though you've got part of their chromosome, because there's been a genetic"},{"startTime":624.436,"endTime":630.085,"body":"reshuffling, that process happened also 50,000 years ago when homo sapiens and Neanderthals mated."},{"startTime":630.545,"endTime":635.47,"body":"And so what you end up with in the first and second generation of this"},{"startTime":635.47,"endTime":635.799,"body":"cross are chromosomes that are a blend of the homo sapiens, DNA and the Neanderthal"},{"startTime":635.799,"endTime":640.725,"body":"DNA."},{"startTime":641.145,"endTime":642.885,"body":"So, uh, in this color scheme they look like this."},{"startTime":642.885,"endTime":647.877,"body":"They've got, they're not regularly striped obviously, but um, but they have some genes from"},{"startTime":647.877,"endTime":651.205,"body":"the homo sapiens parent and some from the Neanderthal parent."},{"startTime":652.865,"endTime":658.358,"body":"And the important point is that to a first approximation, that process of shuffling is"},{"startTime":658.358,"endTime":658.725,"body":"random."},{"startTime":659.385,"endTime":665.399,"body":"So what you should expect is that these offspring have a random inheritance of genes"},{"startTime":665.399,"endTime":667.805,"body":"that were either sapiens or neandertal."},{"startTime":668.665,"endTime":671.74,"body":"Now that offspring is gonna go away and they're gonna have their own offspring and"},{"startTime":671.74,"endTime":672.765,"body":"so on and so forth."},{"startTime":672.765,"endTime":678.781,"body":"And what you should expect if all of those genes are essentially completely neutral, they"},{"startTime":678.781,"endTime":679.182,"body":"have no impact, is that over time the distribution of neandertal genes and homo sapiens"},{"startTime":679.182,"endTime":687.605,"body":"genes will remain random across your chromosomes."},{"startTime":688.305,"endTime":692.271,"body":"And that means that if I was going to look today at all of you"},{"startTime":692.271,"endTime":692.536,"body":"sitting here listening to this and to sequence your DNA, which is of course possible,"},{"startTime":692.536,"endTime":700.205,"body":"what I should see is a totally random distribution of neanderthal genes across your genome."},{"startTime":700.985,"endTime":702.805,"body":"But that's not what we see actually."},{"startTime":703.145,"endTime":706.005,"body":"So what we generally see is something that looks a bit more like this."},{"startTime":706.235,"endTime":712.431,"body":"Broadly speaking, most of your genome is a random mixture of neandertal, um, and homo"},{"startTime":712.431,"endTime":712.845,"body":"sapiens."},{"startTime":713.065,"endTime":718.517,"body":"So if you are a European, for example, like me, then you've got about 2%"},{"startTime":718.517,"endTime":719.245,"body":"Neanderthal DNA."},{"startTime":719.465,"endTime":725.406,"body":"And that is roughly speaking, distributed pretty evenly across your chromosomes with the exception of"},{"startTime":725.406,"endTime":725.802,"body":"occasional patches where you see either no DNA at all from a neandertal, you have"},{"startTime":725.802,"endTime":733.725,"body":"only homosapiens DNA or the reverse."},{"startTime":733.785,"endTime":736.805,"body":"You are highly enriched for financial DNA in that area."},{"startTime":738.105,"endTime":738.765,"body":"Why do we see that?"},{"startTime":738.825,"endTime":742.355,"body":"We see that because that is a hallmark of the fact that this is no"},{"startTime":742.355,"endTime":745.885,"body":"longer a neutral bit of DNA, it's no longer a neutral gene, what it means."},{"startTime":746.105,"endTime":751.021,"body":"So in this example here, for example, here you have a blue patch, which is"},{"startTime":751.021,"endTime":752.005,"body":"only homosapiens DNA."},{"startTime":752.465,"endTime":757.856,"body":"So what that means is that the, the equivalent Neanderthal D gene has been selected"},{"startTime":757.856,"endTime":758.216,"body":"against, it's been a bad idea over the last 50,000 years to have neandertal DNA"},{"startTime":758.216,"endTime":765.405,"body":"in this bit of your chromosome."},{"startTime":765.605,"endTime":769.381,"body":"'cause whatever the gene was you inherited there was not helpful and it has been"},{"startTime":769.381,"endTime":769.885,"body":"selected against."},{"startTime":771.015,"endTime":774.793,"body":"Conversely, if you have a patch like this, we have more neandertal DNA than by"},{"startTime":774.793,"endTime":775.045,"body":"chance."},{"startTime":775.395,"endTime":780.561,"body":"That means something that Neandertal great-great-great, great, great, great, great great grandparent gave you, was"},{"startTime":780.561,"endTime":784.005,"body":"useful and it has been retained despite this random process."},{"startTime":785.465,"endTime":788.645,"body":"So we can look in modern human gene names in all of your gene names"},{"startTime":788.645,"endTime":790.765,"body":"and we can look for patches that look like this."},{"startTime":790.785,"endTime":795.19,"body":"And when we see them we can say, okay, something here has been important over"},{"startTime":795.19,"endTime":796.365,"body":"the last 50,000 years."},{"startTime":796.755,"endTime":797.325,"body":"What is it?"},{"startTime":797.385,"endTime":798.805,"body":"And what might it have done?"},{"startTime":799.905,"endTime":802.165,"body":"And that's exactly what um, various groups have done."},{"startTime":802.165,"endTime":806.365,"body":"And this in particular is work with Josh Akey, um, and Serena Tucci and others,"},{"startTime":806.365,"endTime":808.605,"body":"um, where they have looked in modern genomes."},{"startTime":808.605,"endTime":813.213,"body":"And what they've done particularly well in this is they have looked in two distinct"},{"startTime":813.213,"endTime":816.285,"body":"populations, modern Europeans, people living for example, in London today."},{"startTime":816.785,"endTime":820.245,"body":"Um, and uh, modern Asians living in various parts of Asia."},{"startTime":820.425,"endTime":825.015,"body":"And the point about turning two populations is what if there is a gene that"},{"startTime":825.015,"endTime":825.321,"body":"has been selected for, because it benefits modern humans broadly, it should be in both"},{"startTime":825.321,"endTime":830.525,"body":"of those populations."},{"startTime":830.985,"endTime":834.885,"body":"And if there's one that's particularly specific, I dunno, it helps you navigate the tube"},{"startTime":834.885,"endTime":835.925,"body":"in London, for example."},{"startTime":836.265,"endTime":839.321,"body":"Uh, then it will only be in the European population, not the Asian or vice"},{"startTime":839.321,"endTime":839.525,"body":"versa."},{"startTime":840.865,"endTime":843.525,"body":"So when we do that, that is exactly what you see."},{"startTime":843.545,"endTime":845.885,"body":"So here on this graph at the top, what you see is a chromosome."},{"startTime":845.885,"endTime":848.005,"body":"This is chromosome seven, human chromosome seven."},{"startTime":848.345,"endTime":853.131,"body":"And the little red and blue lines are indications of where there are neanderthal bits"},{"startTime":853.131,"endTime":855.365,"body":"of DNA still in that, uh, chromosome."},{"startTime":855.505,"endTime":859.24,"body":"And what you see is that roughly speaking, most of the chromosome, they're pretty random"},{"startTime":859.24,"endTime":860.485,"body":"except that it's pretty clear."},{"startTime":860.645,"endTime":864.325,"body":"I think that here is a patch where we don't have any Neal DNA."},{"startTime":865.705,"endTime":866.165,"body":"Why is that?"},{"startTime":866.165,"endTime":870.222,"body":"That must be the assumption is that's because whatever was on that chromosome from Neal"},{"startTime":870.222,"endTime":871.845,"body":"was not helpful, was not good."},{"startTime":872.145,"endTime":875.967,"body":"Um, and that's actually disadvantaged people carrying it in the sense that they have not"},{"startTime":875.967,"endTime":876.222,"body":"reproduced as well as the rest of us, and they have been lost from the"},{"startTime":876.222,"endTime":880.045,"body":"population."},{"startTime":881.425,"endTime":885.213,"body":"And when we look in that region, one of the genes that's in this region"},{"startTime":885.213,"endTime":888.245,"body":"turns out to be this rather delightful one called Fox P two."},{"startTime":888.665,"endTime":892.835,"body":"And Fox P two encodes a protein, which you can see here spinning around, uh,"},{"startTime":892.835,"endTime":893.114,"body":"which we have known about for some years, because this protein is incredibly important for"},{"startTime":893.114,"endTime":897.285,"body":"language."},{"startTime":898.385,"endTime":903.729,"body":"So modern living humans, for example, who have mutations in this, uh, protein often have"},{"startTime":903.729,"endTime":904.086,"body":"very severe, uh, learning defects around language and communication, speech defects, um, and are not,"},{"startTime":904.086,"endTime":911.925,"body":"uh, very successful in being able to communicate."},{"startTime":913.385,"endTime":918.725,"body":"If you look ancestrally, modern humans have evolved this gene much faster than chance."},{"startTime":918.945,"endTime":922.245,"body":"It suggests the gene itself is under very strong selection to do something."},{"startTime":922.585,"endTime":925.885,"body":"And it's different to other primate versions of this gene, for example."},{"startTime":926.465,"endTime":928.165,"body":"And it's different to the Neandertal version."},{"startTime":928.985,"endTime":932.998,"body":"And so the assumption we have here, which I think is a pretty reasonable hypothesis,"},{"startTime":932.998,"endTime":933.265,"body":"is that the Neandertal version of this gene did not allow you, uh, to do"},{"startTime":933.265,"endTime":933.533,"body":"what these people are doing here, did not allow you to participate in communication, uh,"},{"startTime":933.533,"endTime":943.165,"body":"in the same way that modern homosapiens did."},{"startTime":943.465,"endTime":948.585,"body":"So for example, if you were a hybrid from this Neanderthal homo sapiens cross 50,000"},{"startTime":948.585,"endTime":953.365,"body":"years ago, you were probably struggled to communicate with other members of your species."},{"startTime":953.745,"endTime":957.045,"body":"Um, and for those of us who've had a very nervous first date, we know"},{"startTime":957.045,"endTime":958.805,"body":"that communication is quite important, uh, for reproduction."},{"startTime":958.945,"endTime":962.045,"body":"So if you couldn't communicate, you probably didn't reproduce very well."},{"startTime":962.225,"endTime":964.845,"body":"And so those genes have been lost from the population."},{"startTime":965.945,"endTime":969.795,"body":"So this is one example of a Neanderthal gene that we haven't got anymore because"},{"startTime":969.795,"endTime":970.565,"body":"it wasn't advantageous."},{"startTime":971.185,"endTime":975.694,"body":"Can we find examples of genes that are the opposite, where that Neanderthal history has"},{"startTime":975.694,"endTime":975.995,"body":"benefited us and because we can, um, and so we can look on chromosomes for"},{"startTime":975.995,"endTime":976.295,"body":"the opposite patterns, and now we're looking not for those gaps, but for places where"},{"startTime":976.295,"endTime":976.596,"body":"the red and the blue genes are very, very dense, more dense than the rest"},{"startTime":976.596,"endTime":990.125,"body":"of the chromosome."},{"startTime":990.125,"endTime":994.483,"body":"And you can see here on chromosome three, um, one neat example here, but what's"},{"startTime":994.483,"endTime":994.774,"body":"clever about this example, I hope you can see this, is that there are lots"},{"startTime":994.774,"endTime":1000.005,"body":"of red lines there."},{"startTime":1000.345,"endTime":1004.165,"body":"So, uh, these are the ones derived from modern Asian humans."},{"startTime":1004.945,"endTime":1011.376,"body":"So lots of people in Asia carry this Neanderthal gene, but it's missing from European"},{"startTime":1011.376,"endTime":1011.805,"body":"populations."},{"startTime":1012.385,"endTime":1017.194,"body":"So the assumption here is that whatever this gene is, whatever this DNA region is"},{"startTime":1017.194,"endTime":1017.514,"body":"here, it has been helpful, it's been kept, but only if you are have a"},{"startTime":1017.514,"endTime":1022.965,"body":"lineage in Asia."},{"startTime":1023.185,"endTime":1028.305,"body":"So there's something here that is in some way that we don't quite understand, beneficial"},{"startTime":1028.305,"endTime":1033.085,"body":"for survival and reproduction in that part of the world, less beneficial in Europe."},{"startTime":1034.585,"endTime":1039.15,"body":"And it turns out, when you look at this region, uh, of DNA, there are"},{"startTime":1039.15,"endTime":1039.454,"body":"several genes in here, but there's a little cluster here called, uh, HYAL hyaluronic, um,"},{"startTime":1039.454,"endTime":1044.325,"body":"acid genes."},{"startTime":1044.385,"endTime":1051.416,"body":"And these genes encode proteins that are incredibly important for rebuilding cellular structures after DNA"},{"startTime":1051.416,"endTime":1051.885,"body":"damage."},{"startTime":1052.265,"endTime":1057.485,"body":"And in particular, after DNA damage caused by sunshine caused by ultraviolet irradiation."},{"startTime":1057.985,"endTime":1062.104,"body":"So for example, if you have a poorly functioning version of this gene, uh, you"},{"startTime":1062.104,"endTime":1065.125,"body":"burn incredibly easily, you get very bad sunburn, quite rap rapidly."},{"startTime":1067.145,"endTime":1071.532,"body":"And so the hypothesis here is that back 50,000 years ago, we picked up this"},{"startTime":1071.532,"endTime":1074.165,"body":"version of a gene, uh, from the anatol crosses."},{"startTime":1074.625,"endTime":1078.485,"body":"Uh, it confers better protection against ultraviolet radiation."},{"startTime":1079.385,"endTime":1083.125,"body":"If you are in a gray, misty, northern Britain, that is pretty irrelevant."},{"startTime":1083.305,"endTime":1087.518,"body":"Um, but if you are in a sun baked Asian desert, for example, really quite"},{"startTime":1087.518,"endTime":1089.485,"body":"important to be able to survive sunburn."},{"startTime":1089.705,"endTime":1093.56,"body":"Um, and so this gene has been retained in the populations that needed it and"},{"startTime":1093.56,"endTime":1093.817,"body":"not, uh, in the pale, kind of rainy populations of Europe, um, like the one"},{"startTime":1093.817,"endTime":1098.445,"body":"we're standing in today."},{"startTime":1099.985,"endTime":1101.565,"body":"So that's an example that goes, uh, the other way."},{"startTime":1101.565,"endTime":1105.718,"body":"And then, uh, perhaps the neatest example that I really like in this study, um,"},{"startTime":1105.718,"endTime":1108.765,"body":"is the one here which applies equally to all modern humans."},{"startTime":1109.105,"endTime":1112.125,"body":"So now we are looking for a region, this is on chromosome 12."},{"startTime":1112.465,"endTime":1117.043,"body":"Um, and there is a region here, hopefully you can see it very, very densely"},{"startTime":1117.043,"endTime":1119.485,"body":"populated with Neanderthal DNA, uh, in both populations."},{"startTime":1119.665,"endTime":1121.725,"body":"So in both European and Asian populations."},{"startTime":1122.665,"endTime":1127.645,"body":"So here in this region is something that we inherited from Neanderthals."},{"startTime":1127.995,"endTime":1131.002,"body":"It's turned out to be really useful for all humans, or at least all of"},{"startTime":1131.002,"endTime":1132.005,"body":"the ones that we've sequenced."},{"startTime":1132.005,"endTime":1134.605,"body":"And it's been kept at very high frequency."},{"startTime":1135.865,"endTime":1141.141,"body":"And this little gene cluster here contains three genes all very closely related called the"},{"startTime":1141.141,"endTime":1141.845,"body":"OAS genes."},{"startTime":1142.665,"endTime":1146.885,"body":"And these genes are very, very important because they drive an immune process."},{"startTime":1147.465,"endTime":1151.725,"body":"And what they do is they detect and respond to viral infections."},{"startTime":1152.225,"endTime":1156.385,"body":"And it's a very clever system because what this gene does is it keeps back,"},{"startTime":1156.385,"endTime":1156.662,"body":"it keeps under control the very powerful weapons that you use against the virus to"},{"startTime":1156.662,"endTime":1162.765,"body":"avoid them doing damage when you're not infected."},{"startTime":1163.395,"endTime":1168.546,"body":"When a virus appears, these genes respond and they drive the production, um, of one"},{"startTime":1168.546,"endTime":1172.325,"body":"of these antiviral, uh, weapons that we have, um, called RNAs."},{"startTime":1173.345,"endTime":1177.925,"body":"And this essentially is a degrading enzyme, something that chew up viruses."},{"startTime":1177.925,"endTime":1181.565,"body":"And as you may know, viruses come broadly speaking in two flavors."},{"startTime":1181.565,"endTime":1185.965,"body":"There are some that have a genome that is made of DNA, like, like our"},{"startTime":1185.965,"endTime":1186.258,"body":"genome, but there are many, many viruses that have a genome made of RNAA related"},{"startTime":1186.258,"endTime":1191.245,"body":"but different molecule."},{"startTime":1191.985,"endTime":1195.56,"body":"Um, and so because our genome is made of DNA but a virus, what is"},{"startTime":1195.56,"endTime":1195.799,"body":"made of RNA that gives you a tool to destroy a virus by targeting the"},{"startTime":1195.799,"endTime":1200.805,"body":"RNA, and that's what this tool does."},{"startTime":1202.185,"endTime":1206.525,"body":"So when you detect a viral infection, these OAS genes turn on this weapon, this"},{"startTime":1206.525,"endTime":1206.815,"body":"RNAs weapon, the weapon is produced and it comes and it degrades the virus you're"},{"startTime":1206.815,"endTime":1211.445,"body":"infected with."},{"startTime":1212.585,"endTime":1214.005,"body":"So this seems like quite a good thing to have."},{"startTime":1214.105,"endTime":1218.92,"body":"And so the hypothesis, maybe the neandertal version of these genes, um, is a bit"},{"startTime":1218.92,"endTime":1220.525,"body":"better at dealing with viruses."},{"startTime":1220.525,"endTime":1223.205,"body":"And so that's why we have kept it so well, and that is exactly true."},{"startTime":1223.625,"endTime":1227.471,"body":"In fact, it turns out you can do these experiments in the lab if you"},{"startTime":1227.471,"endTime":1230.805,"body":"have the neandertal version of these genes rather than the homo sapiens version."},{"startTime":1231.065,"endTime":1236.501,"body":"Um, you are much better at controlling a whole variety of, uh, viruses, actually particular"},{"startTime":1236.501,"endTime":1240.125,"body":"things like hepatitis c tick encephalitis and West Nile virus."},{"startTime":1241.185,"endTime":1245.033,"body":"And one of the interesting things about this is the virus group that the, that"},{"startTime":1245.033,"endTime":1245.29,"body":"you are particularly good at controlling if you have these genes all belong to a"},{"startTime":1245.29,"endTime":1250.165,"body":"group called the flay viruses."},{"startTime":1250.465,"endTime":1254.881,"body":"And so to me at least, that is quite compelling evidence that at some point"},{"startTime":1254.881,"endTime":1255.175,"body":"between that mating the Neals 50,000 years ago and today we have been through quite"},{"startTime":1255.175,"endTime":1263.125,"body":"a strong selective pressure in which flay viruses were a really big problem."},{"startTime":1263.505,"endTime":1269.015,"body":"And so what happened was people who did not have this extra protection succumbed, died,"},{"startTime":1269.015,"endTime":1270.485,"body":"didn't inherit their genes."},{"startTime":1270.775,"endTime":1275.226,"body":"Those people who carried this extra neandertal uh, gene were able to survive those, uh,"},{"startTime":1275.226,"endTime":1279.085,"body":"pandemics if you wanna call them that, um, and give their genes on."},{"startTime":1279.085,"endTime":1280.525,"body":"And that's why we see those genes today."},{"startTime":1282.265,"endTime":1286.997,"body":"The last twist in this rather neat tale, I think, is that these neonatal genes"},{"startTime":1286.997,"endTime":1287.312,"body":"that we inherited have apparently helped us survive at some point in the last 50,000"},{"startTime":1287.312,"endTime":1292.045,"body":"years."},{"startTime":1292.785,"endTime":1297.245,"body":"But even more importantly, they've also helped us survive in the last five years."},{"startTime":1297.555,"endTime":1303.053,"body":"Because you may know that during the covid, uh, 19 pandemic, there was intense interest"},{"startTime":1303.053,"endTime":1307.085,"body":"in what made individual differences in our response to the virus."},{"startTime":1307.185,"endTime":1311.148,"body":"And we will all know people who got Covid to 19 and carried on as"},{"startTime":1311.148,"endTime":1312.205,"body":"if nothing had happened."},{"startTime":1312.205,"endTime":1313.245,"body":"They were completely fit and well."},{"startTime":1313.385,"endTime":1316.79,"body":"And unfortunately many of us will also know people who were very severely ill or"},{"startTime":1316.79,"endTime":1317.245,"body":"perhaps died."},{"startTime":1317.625,"endTime":1322.701,"body":"Um, and the question became quite often, why is it the two people who are"},{"startTime":1322.701,"endTime":1326.085,"body":"superficially very similar may respond so differently to that virus?"},{"startTime":1326.865,"endTime":1331.267,"body":"And so many groups looked at this by sequencing DNA in those different people and"},{"startTime":1331.267,"endTime":1331.561,"body":"asking what genes do people who seem to brush off the virus have that are"},{"startTime":1331.561,"endTime":1337.725,"body":"missing in people who gets severely ill?"},{"startTime":1338.105,"endTime":1342.17,"body":"And it turns out that one of those genes that you can see over here"},{"startTime":1342.17,"endTime":1343.525,"body":"is exactly this Oass three."},{"startTime":1344.025,"endTime":1348.235,"body":"So it turns out that if you have this Neanderthal gene, your ancestors survived some"},{"startTime":1348.235,"endTime":1351.885,"body":"pandemic in the last 50,000 years and that's why you are here today."},{"startTime":1352.425,"endTime":1356.032,"body":"But the fact that you are physically here today in this whole listening to me"},{"startTime":1356.032,"endTime":1356.273,"body":"may also be because that same gene has helped you survive the pandemic that we've"},{"startTime":1356.273,"endTime":1362.045,"body":"all been through in the last four or five years."},{"startTime":1362.095,"endTime":1363.885,"body":"Quite a, a salient reminder."},{"startTime":1364.085,"endTime":1367.722,"body":"I think that evolution is not all about dead stuff, it's also about what happens"},{"startTime":1367.722,"endTime":1367.965,"body":"today."},{"startTime":1368.225,"endTime":1370.405,"body":"And understanding it is really, really important."},{"startTime":1373.665,"endTime":1377.005,"body":"So that all feels and is ancient history."},{"startTime":1377.085,"endTime":1381.353,"body":"We're talking about things that happened 50,000 years ago and albeit they may have an"},{"startTime":1381.353,"endTime":1381.638,"body":"impact today, um, but it's still quite difficult to get your head around, you know,"},{"startTime":1381.638,"endTime":1387.045,"body":"Neanderthal matings 50,000 years ago."},{"startTime":1388.705,"endTime":1391.967,"body":"But the question is, and I'd like to turn to you now, is really can"},{"startTime":1391.967,"endTime":1393.925,"body":"we see anything that's even more recent than that?"},{"startTime":1393.945,"endTime":1399.362,"body":"And I said at the beginning that evolution works on very slow timescales, usually millions"},{"startTime":1399.362,"endTime":1400.085,"body":"of years."},{"startTime":1400.665,"endTime":1404.88,"body":"So asking whether we can see anything evolutionarily over thousands of years is a bit"},{"startTime":1404.88,"endTime":1406.005,"body":"of a tall order."},{"startTime":1406.905,"endTime":1411.659,"body":"But nonetheless, um, with the power in particular of very, very advanced genetics that we"},{"startTime":1411.659,"endTime":1411.976,"body":"have received over recent years, we are now in a position to start to see"},{"startTime":1411.976,"endTime":1412.293,"body":"things that have evolved humanity over not just a blink of an eye, but an"},{"startTime":1412.293,"endTime":1425.605,"body":"absolute nanosecond of kind of evolutionary time just in the last few thousand years."},{"startTime":1426.585,"endTime":1431.522,"body":"And one of the points that I think is particularly notable is that we think"},{"startTime":1431.522,"endTime":1434.485,"body":"of evolutionary events as being kind of standalone, right?"},{"startTime":1434.485,"endTime":1437.365,"body":"We think of, I dunno, for example, humans migrated outta Africa."},{"startTime":1437.515,"endTime":1440.205,"body":"That was lovely, got the rest of the world end of season."},{"startTime":1440.985,"endTime":1442.605,"body":"But actually of course that's not how it works."},{"startTime":1442.675,"endTime":1445.605,"body":"When something changes, it has a knock on impact."},{"startTime":1445.785,"endTime":1449.913,"body":"So, uh, you know, if we start to evolve tool use for example, that had"},{"startTime":1449.913,"endTime":1450.189,"body":"a direct impact on humans 'cause we could benefit from that tool use, but it"},{"startTime":1450.189,"endTime":1456.245,"body":"also had a direct impact on other species."},{"startTime":1456.505,"endTime":1459.836,"body":"For example, trees that were now cut down that would not previously have been able"},{"startTime":1459.836,"endTime":1460.725,"body":"to be cut down."},{"startTime":1461.145,"endTime":1462.805,"body":"So there are follow on impacts."},{"startTime":1462.825,"endTime":1465.685,"body":"In other words, evolution can spawn more evolution."},{"startTime":1466.105,"endTime":1469.674,"body":"If you think about the evolution of flight in birds before birds could fly, there"},{"startTime":1469.674,"endTime":1469.912,"body":"was no need for trees to have fruit that could be kind of spread in"},{"startTime":1469.912,"endTime":1470.15,"body":"the canopy as soon as they had a flying birds that could spread it around,"},{"startTime":1470.15,"endTime":1470.388,"body":"it made sense to evolve fruit that might be attractive to those birds high up"},{"startTime":1470.388,"endTime":1482.525,"body":"in the canopy and so on and so forth."},{"startTime":1484.145,"endTime":1485.325,"body":"So humans have evolved too."},{"startTime":1485.345,"endTime":1489.174,"body":"So the question is, have we evolved in a way that has then shaped our"},{"startTime":1489.174,"endTime":1489.685,"body":"own evolution?"},{"startTime":1489.705,"endTime":1491.805,"body":"And the answer to that is definitively yes."},{"startTime":1492.625,"endTime":1497.725,"body":"Um, and the bit of human evolution I want to talk about is in is"},{"startTime":1497.725,"endTime":1498.065,"body":"this one is the transition from, if you like, hunter gatherer, nomadic, individual humans to"},{"startTime":1498.065,"endTime":1505.205,"body":"the kind of humans we recognize today."},{"startTime":1505.205,"endTime":1510.005,"body":"People who are urbanized, people who live with agriculture, people who do all these kind"},{"startTime":1510.005,"endTime":1512.245,"body":"of things that society today depends on."},{"startTime":1513.625,"endTime":1516.365,"body":"Um, and we know actually quite a bit about how this happens."},{"startTime":1516.505,"endTime":1522.101,"body":"So what we know is that around about 10 or 11,000 years ago, uh, up"},{"startTime":1522.101,"endTime":1522.475,"body":"until a point most humans had been hunter gatherers, nomadic spreading over large areas, no"},{"startTime":1522.475,"endTime":1528.445,"body":"particular pattern."},{"startTime":1529.585,"endTime":1533.685,"body":"Around 10 or 11,000 years ago, we start to see evidence of people returning to"},{"startTime":1533.685,"endTime":1535.325,"body":"the same place again and again."},{"startTime":1535.745,"endTime":1538.535,"body":"Um, maybe that's because they realized that was a good place to be, it was"},{"startTime":1538.535,"endTime":1538.721,"body":"a safe place to be, it had good food, whatever, but they came back to"},{"startTime":1538.721,"endTime":1541.885,"body":"the same place."},{"startTime":1542.915,"endTime":1547.002,"body":"What we think probably happened was that in their hunting and gathering, they would of"},{"startTime":1547.002,"endTime":1548.365,"body":"course have brought food home."},{"startTime":1548.985,"endTime":1552.285,"body":"Um, they would've spilt food, particularly nuts and seeds and grains."},{"startTime":1552.545,"endTime":1554.605,"body":"Um, and they would've, some of those would've germinated."},{"startTime":1554.665,"endTime":1557.935,"body":"And then of course, if you're a savvy hunter gatherer 11,000 years ago, you realize"},{"startTime":1557.935,"endTime":1558.153,"body":"that actually if your corn is growing here, you don't have to go out to"},{"startTime":1558.153,"endTime":1563.605,"body":"hunt and gather it and run the risk of being eaten."},{"startTime":1563.865,"endTime":1564.925,"body":"Um, you can stay here."},{"startTime":1564.945,"endTime":1569.525,"body":"And so bit by bit what we now recognize as agriculture evolved."},{"startTime":1569.545,"endTime":1572.47,"body":"So instead of gathering stuff from the wild, you could sew stuff and you could"},{"startTime":1572.47,"endTime":1573.445,"body":"keep it in one place."},{"startTime":1574.645,"endTime":1577.725,"body":"Subsequently, uh, people then realized you could do similar things to animals."},{"startTime":1577.785,"endTime":1580.485,"body":"We started to keep livestock, so on and so forth."},{"startTime":1580.545,"endTime":1587.428,"body":"And that agricultural revolution has been incredibly important for human society, but also incredibly important"},{"startTime":1587.428,"endTime":1588.805,"body":"for human evolution."},{"startTime":1589.785,"endTime":1594.779,"body":"Um, and we can start to see using modern genetic tools, just how important that"},{"startTime":1594.779,"endTime":1595.445,"body":"has been."},{"startTime":1597.825,"endTime":1602.466,"body":"So the evolution of agriculture has been most intensely studied in an area called the"},{"startTime":1602.466,"endTime":1603.085,"body":"Fertile Crescent."},{"startTime":1603.265,"endTime":1605.845,"body":"Um, in a unfortunately is now a very troubled part of the world."},{"startTime":1605.985,"endTime":1610.339,"body":"So ranging from Egypt through to Iraq in a, in a long suave here, um,"},{"startTime":1610.339,"endTime":1610.629,"body":"it's important to note that we actually know that agriculture was being evolved in parallel"},{"startTime":1610.629,"endTime":1615.565,"body":"in other places."},{"startTime":1615.835,"endTime":1618.565,"body":"Asia, for example, the domestication of Rice South America."},{"startTime":1619.065,"endTime":1622.426,"body":"But actually, uh, because most of the work and science, if you like, has been"},{"startTime":1622.426,"endTime":1622.65,"body":"in this area, this is the area we know the most about in terms of"},{"startTime":1622.65,"endTime":1626.685,"body":"the evolution of agriculture."},{"startTime":1627.825,"endTime":1632.59,"body":"And what we know is that about 10,000 years ago, people started to domesticate certain"},{"startTime":1632.59,"endTime":1636.085,"body":"key crops and we can see that in those crops themselves."},{"startTime":1636.405,"endTime":1641.671,"body":"'cause you can see hallmarks of very rapid evolution as people started to select for"},{"startTime":1641.671,"endTime":1645.885,"body":"crops that were for example, bigger or more edible or more durable."},{"startTime":1646.225,"endTime":1648.085,"body":"Um, around 10,000 years ago."},{"startTime":1648.505,"endTime":1652.301,"body":"Um, so at about 10,000 years ago in this area, certainly of the fertile present"},{"startTime":1652.301,"endTime":1655.085,"body":"and elsewhere in the world, humans were starting to develop agriculture."},{"startTime":1655.085,"endTime":1659.325,"body":"And that had a really important impact on lots of things about being human."},{"startTime":1660.425,"endTime":1664.861,"body":"Um, and the first, uh, one and one that's often overlooked is that it allowed"},{"startTime":1664.861,"endTime":1666.045,"body":"us to stay put."},{"startTime":1666.475,"endTime":1666.765,"body":"Okay?"},{"startTime":1667.225,"endTime":1670.797,"body":"Up until then, for the rest of human history, we'd had to migrate around because"},{"startTime":1670.797,"endTime":1671.035,"body":"if you need to hunt and gather, you need to be where the stuff to"},{"startTime":1671.035,"endTime":1675.085,"body":"be gathered is."},{"startTime":1675.115,"endTime":1677.629,"body":"It's no good staying put and hoping that you are kind of banana's gonna come"},{"startTime":1677.629,"endTime":1677.965,"body":"to you."},{"startTime":1677.965,"endTime":1679.245,"body":"You've gotta go and find the banana."},{"startTime":1679.755,"endTime":1682.402,"body":"When you start to do agriculture, you can stay in one place and you can"},{"startTime":1682.402,"endTime":1683.285,"body":"start to put down roots."},{"startTime":1683.745,"endTime":1688.053,"body":"In other words, you can start to do what we now recognize as urbanization and"},{"startTime":1688.053,"endTime":1690.925,"body":"build villages and then towns and then ultimately, uh, cities."},{"startTime":1690.945,"endTime":1694.959,"body":"And this, for example, is one of the earliest examples of, uh, of a town,"},{"startTime":1694.959,"endTime":1696.565,"body":"um, in what is now Turkey."},{"startTime":1698.465,"endTime":1701.805,"body":"So agriculture, the development agriculture had multiple impacts."},{"startTime":1702.225,"endTime":1706.409,"body":"The first one obviously is it changed what we ate, probably not into this rather"},{"startTime":1706.409,"endTime":1707.525,"body":"delicious looking meal here."},{"startTime":1707.665,"endTime":1709.725,"body":"Um, but it nonetheless changed quite radical what we ate."},{"startTime":1710.265,"endTime":1713.845,"body":"And a common misconception is that it must have made things better."},{"startTime":1714.925,"endTime":1716.965,"body":"Actually all the evidence suggests it made things worse."},{"startTime":1717.545,"endTime":1722.479,"body":"Um, if you look at the early nutritional profile of people at this cusp of"},{"startTime":1722.479,"endTime":1727.085,"body":"agriculture, uh, their nutritional profile is actually worse than the hunter-gatherers that preceded them."},{"startTime":1727.265,"endTime":1730.765,"body":"And the reason for that is that the diversity of their diet collapsed."},{"startTime":1730.835,"endTime":1735.51,"body":"They went from eating loads and loads of different species, um, to eating a very,"},{"startTime":1735.51,"endTime":1736.445,"body":"very small subset."},{"startTime":1737.145,"endTime":1740.781,"body":"So they had a much more reliable food source 'cause they were growing it themselves,"},{"startTime":1740.781,"endTime":1743.205,"body":"but a much more diminished one in terms of diversity."},{"startTime":1743.305,"endTime":1746.463,"body":"And that had quite an important impact in terms of nutrients as we'll see in"},{"startTime":1746.463,"endTime":1746.885,"body":"a second."},{"startTime":1748.665,"endTime":1754.59,"body":"The second impact is that it allowed humans to start to achieve densities, population sizes"},{"startTime":1754.59,"endTime":1756.565,"body":"that we'd never seen previously."},{"startTime":1757.215,"endTime":1761.241,"body":"Prior to this point in human history, we were very small groups of nomadic hunter"},{"startTime":1761.241,"endTime":1761.51,"body":"gatherers that traveled around and you couldn't get very big 'cause you couldn't stay in"},{"startTime":1761.51,"endTime":1765.805,"body":"one place."},{"startTime":1765.805,"endTime":1767.445,"body":"You couldn't sustain a big population."},{"startTime":1769.185,"endTime":1773.199,"body":"Now you're staying in one place, you're growing your own food, you can expand agriculture,"},{"startTime":1773.199,"endTime":1774.805,"body":"you can get to high densities."},{"startTime":1774.905,"endTime":1777.605,"body":"And high densities are very important for society."},{"startTime":1777.985,"endTime":1782.685,"body":"Um, they're also quite important for some bad things, most notably infectious diseases."},{"startTime":1784.745,"endTime":1789.302,"body":"And thirdly, um, we started to live much more closely with other species, not quite"},{"startTime":1789.302,"endTime":1791.125,"body":"like this, but with other species."},{"startTime":1791.665,"endTime":1797.158,"body":"Um, by domesticating livestock, we started to share our homes, literally share our homes, uh,"},{"startTime":1797.158,"endTime":1802.285,"body":"with all sorts of species, goats, dogs, sheep, cows, so on and so forth."},{"startTime":1802.785,"endTime":1807.33,"body":"And a whole bunch of species that we didn't intend, but they came anyway, rats,"},{"startTime":1807.33,"endTime":1808.845,"body":"mice, et cetera, et cetera."},{"startTime":1809.945,"endTime":1815.302,"body":"And that mixing pot has had a really profound impact on the subsequent evolution of"},{"startTime":1815.302,"endTime":1817.445,"body":"humans over the last 10,000 years."},{"startTime":1817.985,"endTime":1819.965,"body":"And let me show you a few examples of that."},{"startTime":1821.265,"endTime":1822.285,"body":"So here's the first one."},{"startTime":1822.665,"endTime":1824.125,"body":"Um, this obviously is wheat."},{"startTime":1824.195,"endTime":1825.805,"body":"This is a, a crop that we eat."},{"startTime":1826.165,"endTime":1829.39,"body":"I said just now that one of the things that happened when we moved to"},{"startTime":1829.39,"endTime":1831.325,"body":"agriculture is we diminished the diversity of our diet."},{"startTime":1831.905,"endTime":1836.051,"body":"Um, we had plenty more calories, that's a good start, but we missed out on"},{"startTime":1836.051,"endTime":1839.645,"body":"things that were nutrients that were not necessarily present in all our plants."},{"startTime":1839.665,"endTime":1843.079,"body":"So for example, you know, if you eat 50 different species, you're gonna pick up"},{"startTime":1843.079,"endTime":1844.445,"body":"nutrients from lots of different species."},{"startTime":1845.145,"endTime":1848.805,"body":"If you eat three species, you may well be missing something that is only produced"},{"startTime":1848.805,"endTime":1851.245,"body":"in that four species that you are no longer eating."},{"startTime":1851.705,"endTime":1852.525,"body":"Um, and that is true."},{"startTime":1853.225,"endTime":1858.525,"body":"Uh, so we know for example there is an amino acid called ine and ine."},{"startTime":1858.795,"endTime":1861.345,"body":"It's actually still a bit unclear why we need it, but we do, we do"},{"startTime":1861.345,"endTime":1861.685,"body":"need it."},{"startTime":1861.685,"endTime":1862.965,"body":"We don't make that ourselves."},{"startTime":1863.465,"endTime":1868.317,"body":"And in fact, many, many species do not make ine including most of the major"},{"startTime":1868.317,"endTime":1868.965,"body":"crop species."},{"startTime":1869.945,"endTime":1873.125,"body":"So we have to get it from things, uh, like fungi for example."},{"startTime":1874.065,"endTime":1877.703,"body":"So when we switch, and that was not a problem when you were out hunter"},{"startTime":1877.703,"endTime":1877.946,"body":"gathering and finding your own mushrooms and everything else, when you switch to eating largely"},{"startTime":1877.946,"endTime":1883.525,"body":"grain crops, you suddenly missed out on this ine."},{"startTime":1883.985,"endTime":1889.16,"body":"Um, and that has, that impact is now clear in modern human genomes because the"},{"startTime":1889.16,"endTime":1889.505,"body":"gene you need to harvest ine from your food encodes a protein OCTN one like"},{"startTime":1889.505,"endTime":1899.165,"body":"this, which picks up fin in your diet and puts it into your bloodstream."},{"startTime":1900.225,"endTime":1904.525,"body":"Um, and this gene we can see in modern human populations comes in different flavors."},{"startTime":1904.865,"endTime":1909.445,"body":"Um, some people present in the audience probably don't produce very much of this, but"},{"startTime":1909.445,"endTime":1912.805,"body":"many of us have a version that is much more active."},{"startTime":1913.265,"endTime":1918.522,"body":"In fact, it's 50% more effective at getting hanin outta your food than the other"},{"startTime":1918.522,"endTime":1919.925,"body":"type of the gene."},{"startTime":1920.305,"endTime":1923.591,"body":"And if you look at where that highly effective gene is found, what you see"},{"startTime":1923.591,"endTime":1925.125,"body":"is a rather wonderful map like this."},{"startTime":1925.125,"endTime":1929.735,"body":"Those of us in Western Europe are very, very likely to have this what's called"},{"startTime":1929.735,"endTime":1930.965,"body":"a high affinity gene."},{"startTime":1931.425,"endTime":1935.805,"body":"People who have a a, a longstanding African ancestry, much less so."},{"startTime":1935.825,"endTime":1940.298,"body":"And the explanation for this is that that's because the evolutionary history in Africa was"},{"startTime":1940.298,"endTime":1942.685,"body":"much was hunter gatherer for much, much longer."},{"startTime":1943.175,"endTime":1946.325,"body":"Those of us in Europe have been through this agricultural bottleneck."},{"startTime":1946.425,"endTime":1950.285,"body":"We are the survivors of people who farmed in the Middle East essentially."},{"startTime":1950.785,"endTime":1954.235,"body":"Um, and so in order to survive farming in the Middle East, you needed this"},{"startTime":1954.235,"endTime":1957.685,"body":"version of the gene to help you get nutrients outta your food otherwise you died."},{"startTime":1957.905,"endTime":1962.767,"body":"And so those of us who have survived that process have that high affinity gene"},{"startTime":1962.767,"endTime":1965.685,"body":"'cause it's able to scavenge, ine from your food."},{"startTime":1965.965,"endTime":1970.246,"body":"A very nice example I think of where agriculture has shaped modern genomes in a"},{"startTime":1970.246,"endTime":1972.245,"body":"way that we had not previously predicted."},{"startTime":1974.105,"endTime":1976.922,"body":"And in fact, we can go one step further than this 'cause we can say,"},{"startTime":1976.922,"endTime":1979.365,"body":"so this is testing an individual gene, but we can turn it around."},{"startTime":1979.465,"endTime":1984.503,"body":"We can say what is it in modern humans That apparently has evolved very, very"},{"startTime":1984.503,"endTime":1984.839,"body":"fast and a very neat way to do that was done by David Reich's group"},{"startTime":1984.839,"endTime":1992.565,"body":"who looks at, um, relatively recently dead human beings."},{"startTime":1992.825,"endTime":1996.005,"body":"And when I say relatively recently, I mean the last 6,000 years more or less."},{"startTime":1996.465,"endTime":2001.136,"body":"Um, and they sequenced DNA from corpses from about six and a half thousand years"},{"startTime":2001.136,"endTime":2003.005,"body":"ago to about 300 years ago."},{"startTime":2003.385,"endTime":2005.965,"body":"So this is quite a big s swat of human evolution."},{"startTime":2006.585,"endTime":2011.095,"body":"And by doing that you can look at genes that have essentially not changed over"},{"startTime":2011.095,"endTime":2015.005,"body":"that period of time versus those that are apparently changing very, very fast."},{"startTime":2015.705,"endTime":2020.055,"body":"And the theory is that a gene that is important for something that is changing"},{"startTime":2020.055,"endTime":2020.925,"body":"will itself change."},{"startTime":2021.065,"endTime":2025.422,"body":"So if you think about, for example, dealing with an infection, your genes are changing"},{"startTime":2025.422,"endTime":2025.713,"body":"fast as the infectious profile changes, whereas, uh, you know, the way that you pattern"},{"startTime":2025.713,"endTime":2032.685,"body":"an embryo has not changed over the last 6,000 years."},{"startTime":2032.685,"endTime":2034.885,"body":"So those genes are not evolving very fast."},{"startTime":2036.225,"endTime":2039.837,"body":"So what you see in front of you is a graph of the whole human"},{"startTime":2039.837,"endTime":2042.245,"body":"genome from chromosome one right down here to chromosome 22."},{"startTime":2042.935,"endTime":2046.645,"body":"Every gene, each 20,000 ish genes of the human genome has been looked at."},{"startTime":2046.825,"endTime":2049.485,"body":"And the question is, how fast are those genes changing?"},{"startTime":2049.485,"endTime":2052.71,"body":"What you see is the vast majority of genes are not changing very much at"},{"startTime":2052.71,"endTime":2052.925,"body":"all."},{"startTime":2052.925,"endTime":2053.764,"body":"And that makes sense, right?"},{"startTime":2053.764,"endTime":2057.4,"body":"Because most of what it means to be human has not changed over the last"},{"startTime":2057.4,"endTime":2057.885,"body":"6,000 years."},{"startTime":2058.465,"endTime":2062.415,"body":"But you have these occasional genes that are the tall ones here that are evolving"},{"startTime":2062.415,"endTime":2063.205,"body":"very, very fast."},{"startTime":2063.304,"endTime":2068.033,"body":"Indeed, these are genes that do something that has changed a lot over the last"},{"startTime":2068.033,"endTime":2069.925,"body":"six and a half thousand years."},{"startTime":2070.385,"endTime":2074.173,"body":"And one of the very nice things about this analysis is that one of these"},{"startTime":2074.173,"endTime":2077.205,"body":"genes is that one I just talked about, the ine uh, transporter."},{"startTime":2077.205,"endTime":2081.198,"body":"So you can see that gene here has a terrible name, but nonetheless you can"},{"startTime":2081.198,"endTime":2084.925,"body":"see that gene is one of these that is significantly evolving faster than chance."},{"startTime":2085.784,"endTime":2087.085,"body":"But there are some other neat ones here."},{"startTime":2087.585,"endTime":2090.965,"body":"Um, and this one, it clearly is the one that is evolving the fastest."},{"startTime":2091.545,"endTime":2093.925,"body":"Um, and this one is the one that affects all of us today."},{"startTime":2094.505,"endTime":2098.115,"body":"So if you're sitting here listening to this, um, scoffing your late night cereal with"},{"startTime":2098.115,"endTime":2101.245,"body":"a bowl of milk, um, then you can thank this gene for that."},{"startTime":2101.465,"endTime":2104.678,"body":"Uh, if you're sitting here listening to this saying, I wish I could have that"},{"startTime":2104.678,"endTime":2104.892,"body":"bowl of milk, but it would make me sick, you can blame this gene for"},{"startTime":2104.892,"endTime":2109.605,"body":"that because this is the lactase persistence gene."},{"startTime":2110.465,"endTime":2115.871,"body":"And this is a very nice example of evolution shaping evolution, because as you will"},{"startTime":2115.871,"endTime":2116.231,"body":"know, um, those of you in particular who've got domestic pets, cats, dogs, et cetera,"},{"startTime":2116.231,"endTime":2116.592,"body":"the basic rule for all mammals is that baby mammals drink milk and big mammals"},{"startTime":2116.592,"endTime":2127.045,"body":"don't."},{"startTime":2127.055,"endTime":2127.405,"body":"Right?"},{"startTime":2127.505,"endTime":2130.828,"body":"If you have a puppy, a puppy drinks milk when you wean the puppy and"},{"startTime":2130.828,"endTime":2131.05,"body":"have an adult dog, if you give your adult dog a bowl of milk, it"},{"startTime":2131.05,"endTime":2135.925,"body":"will vomit, it will back up again, okay?"},{"startTime":2136.225,"endTime":2137.685,"body":"And that is true for most mammals."},{"startTime":2137.785,"endTime":2140.045,"body":"It is also historically true for humans."},{"startTime":2141.045,"endTime":2144.645,"body":"Historically, evolutionarily humans could also not consume milk."},{"startTime":2144.645,"endTime":2148.755,"body":"As adults, we would drink milk as babies, we would wean, and then we would"},{"startTime":2148.755,"endTime":2150.125,"body":"become what's called lactose intolerant."},{"startTime":2150.605,"endTime":2152.605,"body":"'cause you would miss the enzymes digested."},{"startTime":2154.155,"endTime":2158.533,"body":"That was not a problem until we started dairying, we started keeping cattle and sheep"},{"startTime":2158.533,"endTime":2160.285,"body":"and other things for their milk."},{"startTime":2161.105,"endTime":2165.216,"body":"And then it became quite useful to be able to digest that milk even as"},{"startTime":2165.216,"endTime":2165.765,"body":"an adult."},{"startTime":2166.615,"endTime":2171.64,"body":"There is a mutation that is presumably quite rare in nature that keeps that gene"},{"startTime":2171.64,"endTime":2172.645,"body":"on into adulthood."},{"startTime":2173.465,"endTime":2176.845,"body":"And for the last million years or so, that's been totally irrelevant."},{"startTime":2176.845,"endTime":2180.236,"body":"But suddenly, when we started to have a ready source of milk as adults, having"},{"startTime":2180.236,"endTime":2182.045,"body":"that verse of the gene was very beneficial."},{"startTime":2182.665,"endTime":2186.645,"body":"And the time it was particularly beneficial was when times got really tough."},{"startTime":2186.825,"endTime":2191.182,"body":"So for example, uh, when in winter when there's no food around, um, you were"},{"startTime":2191.182,"endTime":2192.925,"body":"essentially on the brink of starvation."},{"startTime":2193.585,"endTime":2197.061,"body":"If you had a cow and you could drink that milk and not to vomit"},{"startTime":2197.061,"endTime":2197.292,"body":"it back up again, you had a significant chance of survival if you drank it"},{"startTime":2197.292,"endTime":2197.524,"body":"and threw it back up again and got no calories from it, that was not"},{"startTime":2197.524,"endTime":2204.245,"body":"helpful."},{"startTime":2204.425,"endTime":2209.213,"body":"And so what we see here is the very, very strong selective pressure to have"},{"startTime":2209.213,"endTime":2212.725,"body":"this version of the gene that allows us to metabolize milk."},{"startTime":2212.785,"endTime":2215.128,"body":"And for those of you who are listening to this thing, yeah, but I'm lactose"},{"startTime":2215.128,"endTime":2215.285,"body":"intolerant."},{"startTime":2215.305,"endTime":2215.605,"body":"I'm sorry."},{"startTime":2215.605,"endTime":2219.028,"body":"You're one of these people down here, um, who have got the older version of"},{"startTime":2219.028,"endTime":2219.256,"body":"the gene that is not, uh, conferring that ability to drink, um, uh, to drink"},{"startTime":2219.256,"endTime":2223.365,"body":"milk as an adult."},{"startTime":2223.545,"endTime":2228.082,"body":"So this is an example where we have done something, we have evolved dairying and"},{"startTime":2228.082,"endTime":2230.805,"body":"it has shaped our own genetic evolution quite dramatically."},{"startTime":2232.545,"endTime":2236.023,"body":"And the other example you can see here is a whole cluster of genes down"},{"startTime":2236.023,"endTime":2236.255,"body":"here, uh, which all the different functions, but they are all to do with the"},{"startTime":2236.255,"endTime":2239.965,"body":"immune system."},{"startTime":2240.145,"endTime":2244.093,"body":"And I said right at the beginning of this lecture that one of the strongest"},{"startTime":2244.093,"endTime":2246.725,"body":"forces in immunity is infectious disease because it kills people."},{"startTime":2246.745,"endTime":2250.445,"body":"And in particular it kills young people before they have reproduced."},{"startTime":2250.465,"endTime":2255.885,"body":"And so we should expect genes that confer resistance to disease to be evolving fast."},{"startTime":2256.105,"endTime":2256.765,"body":"And they are."},{"startTime":2257.105,"endTime":2260.445,"body":"So, there are genes here that are evolving very, very fast."},{"startTime":2260.985,"endTime":2265.924,"body":"Um, and one of the reasons they have evolved particularly fast over the last few"},{"startTime":2265.924,"endTime":2270.205,"body":"thousand years is because we ourselves have dramatically increased the risk of infection."},{"startTime":2270.865,"endTime":2273.805,"body":"And we've done that by living very close to each other."},{"startTime":2273.855,"endTime":2278.205,"body":"We're all here in a fairly crowded hall for starters, um, able to spread diseases"},{"startTime":2278.205,"endTime":2278.495,"body":"quite well, but also 'cause we have brought into our lives things that spread diseases"},{"startTime":2278.495,"endTime":2286.325,"body":"to us either deliberately or inadvertently, like this rather cute fluffy thing here."},{"startTime":2286.345,"endTime":2292.328,"body":"For example, um, rats, mice, the fleas they bring, the parasites they bring are often"},{"startTime":2292.328,"endTime":2293.525,"body":"damaging to humans."},{"startTime":2293.865,"endTime":2299.605,"body":"And so that onset of urbanization and agriculture exposed us, uh, to new diseases."},{"startTime":2300.225,"endTime":2304.771,"body":"And in particular, uh, one of the diseases of course that it brought that these"},{"startTime":2304.771,"endTime":2305.075,"body":"animals brought with them that has been enormously influential in human evolution, um, is this"},{"startTime":2305.075,"endTime":2309.925,"body":"one here."},{"startTime":2309.925,"endTime":2312.685,"body":"This is the bacteria that causes the bubonic plague."},{"startTime":2313.155,"endTime":2313.445,"body":"Okay?"},{"startTime":2313.945,"endTime":2317.676,"body":"And this, as you will probably know, is carried by the bacteria is carried by"},{"startTime":2317.676,"endTime":2317.925,"body":"fleas."},{"startTime":2317.925,"endTime":2319.245,"body":"The fleas live on rodents."},{"startTime":2319.425,"endTime":2323.5,"body":"Um, and so getting exposed to those, uh, fleas on your, your, either your pets"},{"startTime":2323.5,"endTime":2323.771,"body":"or your more likely your rodents that live in your house is the root by"},{"startTime":2323.771,"endTime":2329.205,"body":"which you pick up bubonic plague."},{"startTime":2330.465,"endTime":2333.845,"body":"It is very likely that bubonic plague has been around for a long time."},{"startTime":2333.905,"endTime":2337.972,"body":"But it was a very minor evolutionary pressure when we were hunter gatherers because A,"},{"startTime":2337.972,"endTime":2338.243,"body":"you didn't often come into contact with these things carrying it, and b, even if"},{"startTime":2338.243,"endTime":2345.565,"body":"you did, you are only living in a band of a few people."},{"startTime":2345.825,"endTime":2348.935,"body":"You know, even if it wiped out your tribe, it was not a major impact"},{"startTime":2348.935,"endTime":2349.765,"body":"in terms of evolution."},{"startTime":2350.395,"endTime":2354.828,"body":"When you start to live in a town or a village or a city of"},{"startTime":2354.828,"endTime":2355.124,"body":"thousands of people, now you have the opportunity to have proper pandemic plague and a"},{"startTime":2355.124,"endTime":2355.419,"body":"very significant evolutionary impact because as we know, only too well over the last few"},{"startTime":2355.419,"endTime":2365.765,"body":"years, disease spreads fast in crowded conditions."},{"startTime":2367.225,"endTime":2373.184,"body":"And we know from very good historical data that the magnitude of the impact of"},{"startTime":2373.184,"endTime":2375.965,"body":"these bubonic PLAs has been quite astronomical."},{"startTime":2376.545,"endTime":2379.182,"body":"Um, so for example, this is a, a picture of the plague ash dod, which"},{"startTime":2379.182,"endTime":2380.765,"body":"we don't actually know if that happened, but nonetheless."},{"startTime":2381.025,"endTime":2385.904,"body":"Um, but uh, we do know from good contemporary historical, uh, data, for example, that"},{"startTime":2385.904,"endTime":2386.229,"body":"the plague of Justinian, uh, towards the end of the Roman Empire swept around the"},{"startTime":2386.229,"endTime":2392.085,"body":"coastline of the Mediterranean."},{"startTime":2392.385,"endTime":2397.061,"body":"Um, and multiple historians from that time tell us that it killed about one in"},{"startTime":2397.061,"endTime":2397.685,"body":"four people."},{"startTime":2398.065,"endTime":2400.915,"body":"Um, and bearing in mind this is the, you know, this is the Roman empire,"},{"startTime":2400.915,"endTime":2403.765,"body":"this is the sort of center of the, the, the global universe at that point."},{"startTime":2404.025,"endTime":2408.415,"body":"So 25% of the people in the Mediterranean was a big chunk of the world's"},{"startTime":2408.415,"endTime":2412.805,"body":"population who died within just a couple of years, and they're much closer to home."},{"startTime":2412.865,"endTime":2414.765,"body":"We are here in London, those of us in the hall at least."},{"startTime":2414.785,"endTime":2417.696,"body":"Uh, and we will all be very familiar with the impact of the black death"},{"startTime":2417.696,"endTime":2418.085,"body":"in Europe."},{"startTime":2418.585,"endTime":2423.431,"body":"Um, the same disease, different names, same disease, same bacteria, uh, in particular the Black"},{"startTime":2423.431,"endTime":2423.754,"body":"death, uh, which peaked around 1350 in, at least in this part of the world,"},{"startTime":2423.754,"endTime":2433.125,"body":"is estimated to have wiped out between 30 and 60% of the population of Europe."},{"startTime":2433.945,"endTime":2436.525,"body":"So this is a enormous mortality, right?"},{"startTime":2436.725,"endTime":2438.485,"body":"A really, really strong selective force."},{"startTime":2438.545,"endTime":2443.503,"body":"And so it stands to reason that the slightest advantage would actually be a really,"},{"startTime":2443.503,"endTime":2443.834,"body":"really big advantage in evolutionary terms, even if your chance of survival was 1% better"},{"startTime":2443.834,"endTime":2444.165,"body":"than the guy next door over that kind of level of scale that's going to"},{"startTime":2444.165,"endTime":2455.405,"body":"be visible, um, in our evolution."},{"startTime":2456.145,"endTime":2458.445,"body":"And it turns out, uh, that that is indeed true."},{"startTime":2458.985,"endTime":2463.562,"body":"Um, and so there is an absolutely fantastic study done by Elio ero, uh, which"},{"startTime":2463.562,"endTime":2463.867,"body":"I really love, which uses an amazing historical resource just down the road, uh, from"},{"startTime":2463.867,"endTime":2468.445,"body":"here."},{"startTime":2469.065,"endTime":2474.027,"body":"So down at East Smithfield, um, just by sort of Tower London here, uh, in"},{"startTime":2474.027,"endTime":2474.358,"body":"1348, um, Edward iii, who was king at the time, um, was hiding well away"},{"startTime":2474.358,"endTime":2480.645,"body":"from the plague, very sensible."},{"startTime":2480.785,"endTime":2485.716,"body":"Um, but watching London be decimated by plague, um, he was very astute bit of"},{"startTime":2485.716,"endTime":2486.045,"body":"biology."},{"startTime":2486.385,"endTime":2489.441,"body":"Um, and Edward III thought, this is not very good to have dead plague victims"},{"startTime":2489.441,"endTime":2489.645,"body":"everywhere."},{"startTime":2489.645,"endTime":2493.545,"body":"What I'll do is I'll buy a big lump of land, I will dig a"},{"startTime":2493.545,"endTime":2493.805,"body":"big hole and I will tell, uh, my soldiers to throw anyone who dies of"},{"startTime":2493.805,"endTime":2500.045,"body":"the plague into that pit, which is at East Smithfield."},{"startTime":2500.745,"endTime":2503.725,"body":"Uh, and then by about 1350 the plague is over in London."},{"startTime":2503.755,"endTime":2505.005,"body":"They cover over these dead bodies."},{"startTime":2505.345,"endTime":2507.765,"body":"Uh, and you know, very astute bit of government there."},{"startTime":2507.835,"endTime":2509.125,"body":"Well let's not waste this resource."},{"startTime":2509.155,"endTime":2511.045,"body":"It's a little bit like, you know, HS two in this country."},{"startTime":2511.165,"endTime":2512.165,"body":"Let's not waste this resource."},{"startTime":2512.385,"endTime":2513.565,"body":"Uh, let's think what else we can do."},{"startTime":2513.745,"endTime":2514.725,"body":"Um, we've got a big pit."},{"startTime":2514.805,"endTime":2517.725,"body":"I know we'll put other people in it now when they die on top."},{"startTime":2518.185,"endTime":2521.602,"body":"So what you have in East Smithfield is a layer, a layer of people who"},{"startTime":2521.602,"endTime":2521.829,"body":"died of the plague and then above it a layer of people who survived the"},{"startTime":2521.829,"endTime":2527.525,"body":"plague and died of something else a couple of years later."},{"startTime":2527.665,"endTime":2532.145,"body":"And that is an amazing genetic tool because you can look at the DNA of"},{"startTime":2532.145,"endTime":2532.444,"body":"those different layers and say, what are the genes that made you susceptible to the"},{"startTime":2532.444,"endTime":2536.925,"body":"plague?"},{"startTime":2536.925,"endTime":2540.425,"body":"And you're in the bottom layer or helps you resist the plague and you're in"},{"startTime":2540.425,"endTime":2541.125,"body":"the top layer."},{"startTime":2541.945,"endTime":2544.125,"body":"And when you do that, you find them, it's fantastic."},{"startTime":2544.225,"endTime":2548.234,"body":"So here we have a plot, just like the one I showed you of all"},{"startTime":2548.234,"endTime":2548.501,"body":"the genes and the ones up the top are the genes that are significantly overrepresented"},{"startTime":2548.501,"endTime":2553.045,"body":"in the survivors."},{"startTime":2553.045,"endTime":2556.435,"body":"So if you had that version of the gene, you were much more likely to"},{"startTime":2556.435,"endTime":2557.565,"body":"make it through the plague."},{"startTime":2557.665,"endTime":2560.051,"body":"You might have got run over by a horse the following year and died, but"},{"startTime":2560.051,"endTime":2561.165,"body":"you didn't get the plague and die."},{"startTime":2561.505,"endTime":2564.245,"body":"So they were advantageous in helping you to survive."},{"startTime":2564.585,"endTime":2567.365,"body":"For example, CTLA four or the EAP genes there."},{"startTime":2567.465,"endTime":2571.845,"body":"And unsurprisingly, these genes are all to do with immunity."},{"startTime":2572.345,"endTime":2576.83,"body":"Um, so for example, the EAP genes are used to reveal to the immune system"},{"startTime":2576.83,"endTime":2578.325,"body":"the presence of a pathogen."},{"startTime":2578.545,"endTime":2583.458,"body":"Having those helped, presumably these medieval Londoners to say, oh my goodness, immune system is"},{"startTime":2583.458,"endTime":2588.045,"body":"a bubonic plague happening again to deal with it fast and help me survive."},{"startTime":2588.505,"endTime":2593.322,"body":"So that version of the gene helped me survive, um, against the plague all those"},{"startTime":2593.322,"endTime":2593.965,"body":"years ago."},{"startTime":2594.025,"endTime":2595.805,"body":"And we can see that evolution today."},{"startTime":2596.865,"endTime":2600.335,"body":"But the last twist to this tale and perhaps a slightly miserable point to end"},{"startTime":2600.335,"endTime":2603.805,"body":"on is that this gene having these genes is why we are all here today."},{"startTime":2603.805,"endTime":2606.885,"body":"Especially those of you who have long distant, um, London ancestors."},{"startTime":2607.025,"endTime":2609.765,"body":"The reason you're alive today is 'cause you are great."},{"startTime":2609.765,"endTime":2610.165,"body":"Go, go, go."},{"startTime":2610.165,"endTime":2614.965,"body":"Great, great, great, great grandparents had this version of the gene and survived the plague."},{"startTime":2615.515,"endTime":2619.787,"body":"Unfortunately, you've now got this version of gene and that's probably also the reason if"},{"startTime":2619.787,"endTime":2623.205,"body":"you're sitting there rubbing your knuckles, uh, that you have rheumatoid arthritis."},{"startTime":2623.565,"endTime":2627.659,"body":"'cause it turns out that this gene is really good at triggering the immune system"},{"startTime":2627.659,"endTime":2628.205,"body":"against plague."},{"startTime":2628.515,"endTime":2633.138,"body":"Unfortunately, it's also a bit good at triggering it when you don't need to and"},{"startTime":2633.138,"endTime":2635.605,"body":"inducing autoimmune diseases like lupus and rheumatoid arthritis."},{"startTime":2635.985,"endTime":2639.101,"body":"And so what you end up with is a gene that was massively advantageous a"},{"startTime":2639.101,"endTime":2639.725,"body":"long time ago."},{"startTime":2640.305,"endTime":2643.085,"body":"Now, unfortunately, having a bit of a negative consequence."},{"startTime":2643.105,"endTime":2647.788,"body":"And of course the really bad news is, as I said at the beginning, evolution"},{"startTime":2647.788,"endTime":2648.725,"body":"works on reproduction."},{"startTime":2649.145,"endTime":2653.186,"body":"So it's really important to be resistant to sub, to plague and have your babies"},{"startTime":2653.186,"endTime":2653.725,"body":"grow up."},{"startTime":2654.065,"endTime":2655.605,"body":"Uh, by the time you get rheumatoid arthritis."},{"startTime":2655.605,"endTime":2659.169,"body":"Most of us have done our reproduction, it doesn't impact at all on our ability"},{"startTime":2659.169,"endTime":2659.645,"body":"to reproduce."},{"startTime":2659.645,"endTime":2661.085,"body":"And so evolution doesn't see this."},{"startTime":2661.385,"endTime":2664.757,"body":"And so you are gonna be stuck with this gene probably forever now 'cause there's"},{"startTime":2664.757,"endTime":2667.005,"body":"no evolutionary pressure to remove it again for the population."},{"startTime":2667.465,"endTime":2667.965,"body":"Bad luck."},{"startTime":2667.965,"endTime":2669.005,"body":"But that's evolution for you."},{"startTime":2669.135,"endTime":2669.805,"body":"Thank you very much."},{"startTime":2669.985,"endTime":2670.885,"body":"I'm very happy to Questions."},{"startTime":2676.025,"endTime":2676.645,"body":"Oh, okay."},{"startTime":2676.645,"endTime":2677.965,"body":"So for those listen online, who can hear that?"},{"startTime":2677.965,"endTime":2679.525,"body":"How has modern medicine changed evolution?"},{"startTime":2679.595,"endTime":2682.929,"body":"Well, um, I'm gonna be really mean and say stick around because the next lecture"},{"startTime":2682.929,"endTime":2684.485,"body":"we're gonna talk a bit about that."},{"startTime":2684.625,"endTime":2687.605,"body":"But I'll give you a, I'll give you a quick, you know, spoiler alert."},{"startTime":2687.865,"endTime":2693.123,"body":"Um, so the short answer is we, it is probably too soon to see anything"},{"startTime":2693.123,"endTime":2693.473,"body":"particularly dramatic, but there are some very nice examples of where, uh, we will very"},{"startTime":2693.473,"endTime":2700.485,"body":"soon I think see evolutionary impacts."},{"startTime":2700.705,"endTime":2703.005,"body":"Um, and probably the biggest one is around reproduction."},{"startTime":2703.225,"endTime":2707.76,"body":"Uh, because things like IVF of course have just changed this beautiful model I've shown"},{"startTime":2707.76,"endTime":2708.365,"body":"you about."},{"startTime":2708.365,"endTime":2712.355,"body":"It's all about how successful you are at reproducing because now you can reproduce if"},{"startTime":2712.355,"endTime":2713.685,"body":"you actually couldn't reproduce previously."},{"startTime":2713.985,"endTime":2717.73,"body":"Or indeed you can choose not to reproduce even though you're biologically capable, which is"},{"startTime":2717.73,"endTime":2717.98,"body":"something that has not happened for millions of years and is undoubtedly gonna reshape evolution"},{"startTime":2717.98,"endTime":2722.725,"body":"in some really interesting ways."},{"startTime":2723.065,"endTime":2724.085,"body":"And that's all I'm gonna say."},{"startTime":2724.085,"endTime":2726.325,"body":"I'll have to tune in for the next lecture to find out some more \u003claugh\u003e."},{"startTime":2726.705,"endTime":2730.435,"body":"I'm gonna go to question online, then I come to the audience with a whole"},{"startTime":2730.435,"endTime":2734.165,"body":"series of questions which I, I think are kind of points of clarification about genetics."},{"startTime":2734.165,"endTime":2734.365,"body":"Yes."},{"startTime":2735.145,"endTime":2740.679,"body":"And people are asking questions about how lactose intolerance genes change their expression over the"},{"startTime":2740.679,"endTime":2741.048,"body":"life course and whether how they're inherited, whether if you are lactose intolerant, it means"},{"startTime":2741.048,"endTime":2749.165,"body":"that one of your parents is lactose intolerant."},{"startTime":2749.165,"endTime":2751.885,"body":"So they're just some people who want some clarification on those points."},{"startTime":2751.995,"endTime":2752.885,"body":"Yeah, very good point."},{"startTime":2753.065,"endTime":2755.365,"body":"So, um, and, and I I just slightly brush over that."},{"startTime":2755.385,"endTime":2756.925,"body":"So how does the lactose gene work?"},{"startTime":2756.925,"endTime":2761.645,"body":"So essentially you have a gene lactose, which helps you digest milk, sugars, lactose."},{"startTime":2762.265,"endTime":2765.148,"body":"If you can't digest the sugar, it makes you sick and you, you vomit it"},{"startTime":2765.148,"endTime":2765.725,"body":"back up again."},{"startTime":2765.945,"endTime":2772.001,"body":"So having that enzyme express produced is critical to be able to digest milk genes"},{"startTime":2772.001,"endTime":2772.405,"body":"work."},{"startTime":2772.465,"endTime":2775.765,"body":"You have the thing that you're making, so that enzyme and what's called a promoter"},{"startTime":2775.765,"endTime":2775.985,"body":"sequence beside it, which tells the body when to ex when to put that protein"},{"startTime":2775.985,"endTime":2780.605,"body":"into production, when to turn it off."},{"startTime":2780.785,"endTime":2785.073,"body":"So for instance, there are some proteins that are produced at different times of the"},{"startTime":2785.073,"endTime":2785.645,"body":"menstrual cycle."},{"startTime":2785.705,"endTime":2788.965,"body":"If you're female or when you go into adolescence or so on and so forth."},{"startTime":2789.145,"endTime":2791.95,"body":"You don't want, you know, the gene for beards being turned on when you're six"},{"startTime":2791.95,"endTime":2792.325,"body":"months old."},{"startTime":2792.545,"endTime":2794.725,"body":"Uh, you only want it when you're at, when you're in puberty."},{"startTime":2795.025,"endTime":2800.687,"body":"Um, and so, so those promoters are, if you like the timer lactase, this enzyme"},{"startTime":2800.687,"endTime":2804.085,"body":"has a timer which says, turn me off forever."},{"startTime":2804.625,"endTime":2807.829,"body":"As soon as you finish, you know, uh, wean as soon as you weaned, essentially"},{"startTime":2807.829,"endTime":2809.325,"body":"you finished drinking milk from your mother."},{"startTime":2809.745,"endTime":2812.525,"body":"Um, and that works brilliantly well in all animals, including ourselves."},{"startTime":2812.795,"endTime":2816.443,"body":"What we have done at some point in, in, in evolutionary time is there has"},{"startTime":2816.443,"endTime":2819.605,"body":"been a mutation that has broken that switch and it stays on forever."},{"startTime":2821.185,"endTime":2821.965,"body":"No use at all."},{"startTime":2822.025,"endTime":2826.622,"body":"In fact, in fact possibly slightly disadvantageous 'cause you're making a protein of no relevance,"},{"startTime":2826.622,"endTime":2826.928,"body":"um, up until the point when you start being exposed to milk as an adult,"},{"startTime":2826.928,"endTime":2832.445,"body":"then massively, massively important."},{"startTime":2832.785,"endTime":2833.645,"body":"So, so that's how it works."},{"startTime":2833.825,"endTime":2836.925,"body":"And the question about inheritance, so there are two sorts actually of lactose intolerance."},{"startTime":2836.925,"endTime":2837.725,"body":"I should have made that clear."},{"startTime":2838.185,"endTime":2841.853,"body":"The clean genetic type is that, so if you don't have the enzyme, you can't"},{"startTime":2841.853,"endTime":2843.565,"body":"digest the sugar, you are lactose intolerant."},{"startTime":2843.735,"endTime":2847.961,"body":"There were secondary issues, for example, allergies to milk, which are nothing to do with"},{"startTime":2847.961,"endTime":2848.525,"body":"that enzyme."},{"startTime":2848.985,"endTime":2852.36,"body":"Um, and, and are to do with whether you've been stimulated by a particular antigen,"},{"startTime":2852.36,"endTime":2853.485,"body":"so on and so forth."},{"startTime":2853.485,"endTime":2857.223,"body":"So I guess the, the cautionary tale here is don't be listening to this at"},{"startTime":2857.223,"endTime":2859.965,"body":"home and thinking, oh, actually my milk allergy is all nonsense."},{"startTime":2860.005,"endTime":2860.645,"body":"I don't have that gene."},{"startTime":2860.665,"endTime":2861.605,"body":"I'm gonna go and drink milk."},{"startTime":2861.605,"endTime":2863.765,"body":"If you've been told you're milk allergic, don't drink milk."},{"startTime":2864.115,"endTime":2864.405,"body":"Okay?"},{"startTime":2865.045,"endTime":2866.245,"body":"Regardless of whether you have this gene or not."},{"startTime":2866.245,"endTime":2867.245,"body":"So there are different systems."},{"startTime":2867.785,"endTime":2872.672,"body":"Um, but yes, if you are genetically lactose intolerant, then whether your children are or"},{"startTime":2872.672,"endTime":2875.605,"body":"not depends on the gene of your partner too."},{"startTime":2875.605,"endTime":2878.794,"body":"Because if you, if your partner is lactose tolerant and they're lucky, they'll get that"},{"startTime":2878.794,"endTime":2879.645,"body":"gene and not yours."},{"startTime":2879.825,"endTime":2884.577,"body":"So then on the lactose, my cat loves a nice drop of milk or yogurt"},{"startTime":2884.577,"endTime":2885.845,"body":"or cheese or whatever."},{"startTime":2886.665,"endTime":2890.575,"body":"And, and the story I've always heard is that they became domesticated when we took"},{"startTime":2890.575,"endTime":2893.965,"body":"up dairying and they killed the mice and the rats in the dairy."},{"startTime":2894.105,"endTime":2897.405,"body":"So is there something about cats that enable them to drink milk as adults?"},{"startTime":2897.405,"endTime":2897.525,"body":"Adults?"},{"startTime":2897.705,"endTime":2900.847,"body":"So, so the question is about cats and cats that drink milk in particular and"},{"startTime":2900.847,"endTime":2901.685,"body":"how they got domesticated."},{"startTime":2901.945,"endTime":2904.549,"body":"And, and this, this sort of reminds me of that thing about, you know, you"},{"startTime":2904.549,"endTime":2906.285,"body":"should never work in television with children or pets, right?"},{"startTime":2906.285,"endTime":2907.645,"body":"You should never answer questions about cats."},{"startTime":2907.985,"endTime":2908.605,"body":"Um, cats."},{"startTime":2908.905,"endTime":2912.405,"body":"So, so, so the, the domestication of the cat is actually a bit enigmatic."},{"startTime":2912.605,"endTime":2914.125,"body":"I mean, we know it's quite early on."},{"startTime":2914.385,"endTime":2917.57,"body":"Um, and as anyone who owns a cat knows, it's a bit unclear whether we"},{"startTime":2917.57,"endTime":2918.845,"body":"domesticated them or they domesticated us."},{"startTime":2919.105,"endTime":2919.765,"body":"Uh, either way."},{"startTime":2919.865,"endTime":2921.845,"body":"Um, they're, they're, they are now living with us."},{"startTime":2922.385,"endTime":2927.125,"body":"So, um, some cats, so some cats are better at drinking milk than others."},{"startTime":2927.125,"endTime":2928.245,"body":"There's some variation there."},{"startTime":2928.245,"endTime":2931.245,"body":"And I have to, I don't know, be interested now if anyone online listening to"},{"startTime":2931.245,"endTime":2931.445,"body":"this can post in the chat, um, whether they know whether that's because of the"},{"startTime":2931.445,"endTime":2935.445,"body":"same sort of mutation or not."},{"startTime":2935.905,"endTime":2938.365,"body":"Um, cheese you mentioned about eating cheese."},{"startTime":2938.545,"endTime":2943.226,"body":"So when you process milk into something particularly hard cheeses, actually the lactose is largely,"},{"startTime":2943.226,"endTime":2943.538,"body":"uh, destroyed because the fermentation process gets rid of that, which is why people who"},{"startTime":2943.538,"endTime":2951.965,"body":"are lactose intolerant usually can eat cheese, um, but not drink raw milk."},{"startTime":2951.985,"endTime":2954.245,"body":"So it depends a bit on the, the amount of lactose too."},{"startTime":2956.195,"endTime":2959.445,"body":"Okay, there's a question again, I'm going to oscillate it again."},{"startTime":2959.465,"endTime":2961.285,"body":"I'm trying to put together some questions here."},{"startTime":2961.285,"endTime":2966.045,"body":"There are lots of people thinking about what future evolutionary pressures are likely to be."},{"startTime":2966.045,"endTime":2969.125,"body":"They're talking about changes in diet, changes in obesity."},{"startTime":2969.685,"endTime":2972.605,"body":"Somebody's mentioned that in Southeast Asia around Polynesia."},{"startTime":2972.865,"endTime":2978.055,"body":"People have, uh, also said, well, if you have all these pressures, modern day pressures,"},{"startTime":2978.055,"endTime":2978.401,"body":"how does that play out now that there are fewer generations per century because we"},{"startTime":2978.401,"endTime":2984.285,"body":"are reproducing older?"},{"startTime":2984.705,"endTime":2988.121,"body":"And so whereas we would have three or four generations a century ago, now we"},{"startTime":2988.121,"endTime":2988.805,"body":"only have two."},{"startTime":2989.625,"endTime":2991.405,"body":"That's, so there's, so that's very interesting."},{"startTime":2991.585,"endTime":2992.405,"body":"The second part, first."},{"startTime":2992.425,"endTime":2996.659,"body":"So the question is about whether evolution is running at a gallon different clock speed,"},{"startTime":2996.659,"endTime":2999.765,"body":"I guess if we reproduce more slowly, which we do now."},{"startTime":2999.985,"endTime":3002.605,"body":"Uh, and the short answer is, so yes, generally that's true."},{"startTime":3002.625,"endTime":3004.725,"body":"So evolution is measured on generational time."},{"startTime":3005.225,"endTime":3009.32,"body":"Uh, so if you have, I dunno, uh, 20 generations of a thousand years or"},{"startTime":3009.32,"endTime":3010.685,"body":"15, that makes a difference."},{"startTime":3010.685,"endTime":3011.205,"body":"The clock rate."},{"startTime":3011.205,"endTime":3014.485,"body":"So, so to a first approximation, evolution is running more slowly."},{"startTime":3015.465,"endTime":3019.51,"body":"The slight caveat to that is that it's also about the mutation rate in your"},{"startTime":3019.51,"endTime":3019.78,"body":"DNA and as you get older, if you reproduce at older ages, you carry more"},{"startTime":3019.78,"endTime":3025.445,"body":"mutations, sorry to say, but it's true."},{"startTime":3025.745,"endTime":3030.197,"body":"Um, so, so, so there is a higher chance, I guess, of variability in your"},{"startTime":3030.197,"endTime":3033.165,"body":"offspring that is not enough to compensate for the change."},{"startTime":3033.195,"endTime":3034.485,"body":"It's not that it will stay static."},{"startTime":3034.665,"endTime":3036.965,"body":"We are still essentially evolving slightly more slowly."},{"startTime":3037.305,"endTime":3040.925,"body":"Um, but it's not a linear change in that, in that kind of rate."},{"startTime":3041.265,"endTime":3044.382,"body":"Um, and in terms of the question about what's gonna happen in the future, again,"},{"startTime":3044.382,"endTime":3046.045,"body":"we have a trailer over the next one."},{"startTime":3046.285,"endTime":3047.525,"body":"I think there are lots of interesting things."},{"startTime":3047.785,"endTime":3051.31,"body":"Um, you know, my, my, uh, teenage kids would, would tell me that, you know,"},{"startTime":3051.31,"endTime":3054.365,"body":"a key skill for reproducing these days is be able to use TikTok."},{"startTime":3054.545,"endTime":3057.56,"body":"Um, so maybe, you know, there'll be, we'll see some sort of genetic selection for"},{"startTime":3057.56,"endTime":3058.365,"body":"good use of TikTok."},{"startTime":3058.585,"endTime":3059.565,"body":"Um, uh, I dunno."},{"startTime":3059.585,"endTime":3062.101,"body":"Uh, but there are lots of slightly true, there are lots of things I think"},{"startTime":3062.101,"endTime":3062.605,"body":"that will change."},{"startTime":3063.025,"endTime":3067.075,"body":"Um, for example, you know, through most of human history, being able to kind of,"},{"startTime":3067.075,"endTime":3071.125,"body":"yeah, wield a weapon and and kill your opponents was quite a big selective force."},{"startTime":3071.635,"endTime":3074.765,"body":"Happily for most of us today, that's not a big selective force."},{"startTime":3074.785,"endTime":3078.889,"body":"So even weedy people like me can successfully reproduce 'cause I haven't been attacked by"},{"startTime":3078.889,"endTime":3080.805,"body":"someone with a sword happily, thus fast."},{"startTime":3080.805,"endTime":3081.285,"body":"Dutch wood."},{"startTime":3081.465,"endTime":3085.587,"body":"Um, I was just wondering, could you maybe argue that the most healthy diet is"},{"startTime":3085.587,"endTime":3088.885,"body":"a paleo diet, but then with a bit of milk and carbs?"},{"startTime":3089.505,"endTime":3093.964,"body":"Um, and then the other thing was in reference to his, uh, the question, um,"},{"startTime":3093.964,"endTime":3096.045,"body":"of the man behind me about healthcare."},{"startTime":3096.495,"endTime":3101.917,"body":"Could you maybe argue that with the, uh, the onset of the industrial revolution, the"},{"startTime":3101.917,"endTime":3102.278,"body":"um, infant mortality rate decreased from like 50% to 1%, less than 1%, and that's"},{"startTime":3102.278,"endTime":3102.64,"body":"caused maybe quite a lot of mutation and therefore we've maybe become more unhealthy as"},{"startTime":3102.64,"endTime":3113.485,"body":"a population."},{"startTime":3115.025,"endTime":3116.405,"body":"So there's a lot, there's a lot in those questions."},{"startTime":3116.545,"endTime":3118.965,"body":"So, so uh, going in reverse order."},{"startTime":3118.965,"endTime":3123.315,"body":"So, so the unfortunately infant mortality rate globally today is still at about five or"},{"startTime":3123.315,"endTime":3123.605,"body":"6%."},{"startTime":3123.665,"endTime":3127.052,"body":"So, so we, and I mean that is good in the sense that it has"},{"startTime":3127.052,"endTime":3127.278,"body":"fallen from highs of, you know, if you look historically it was not unusual to"},{"startTime":3127.278,"endTime":3132.925,"body":"lose half your children before the age of five, for example."},{"startTime":3133.345,"endTime":3134.365,"body":"So we've done quite well."},{"startTime":3134.485,"endTime":3136.045,"body":"I would argue there's still an awfully long way to go."},{"startTime":3136.075,"endTime":3137.525,"body":"5% still a very big number."},{"startTime":3138.105,"endTime":3142.1,"body":"Um, so, uh, so, so there is something about that in terms of, in industrial"},{"startTime":3142.1,"endTime":3143.965,"body":"revolution, I think that depends very much."},{"startTime":3144.105,"endTime":3150.055,"body":"So seeing an evolutionary fingerprint of that would be difficult I think, because it was"},{"startTime":3150.055,"endTime":3151.245,"body":"not even right."},{"startTime":3151.245,"endTime":3155.476,"body":"So there were indeed people who lived in, so for example, smog resistance, uh, might"},{"startTime":3155.476,"endTime":3156.605,"body":"have been quite important."},{"startTime":3156.685,"endTime":3159.656,"body":"Having good lungs, it were important if you were in the middle of, you know,"},{"startTime":3159.656,"endTime":3160.845,"body":"smoggy Manchester or London or something."},{"startTime":3160.985,"endTime":3164.435,"body":"But actually a large part of the population was not exposed to that even during"},{"startTime":3164.435,"endTime":3165.125,"body":"the industrial revolution."},{"startTime":3165.425,"endTime":3167.845,"body":"And so many of us will not have been through that selective pressure."},{"startTime":3167.845,"endTime":3171.07,"body":"So I think that'd be quite hard to see in terms of the, the, the"},{"startTime":3171.07,"endTime":3171.285,"body":"best, I make it a point to principle never to advise people on the best"},{"startTime":3171.285,"endTime":3174.725,"body":"possible diet."},{"startTime":3175.305,"endTime":3179.396,"body":"Um, but uh, if I was to say, so I think it's very tricky to"},{"startTime":3179.396,"endTime":3179.669,"body":"say, you know, the paleo diet is sort of attractive 'cause I said hunter gatherers"},{"startTime":3179.669,"endTime":3179.941,"body":"had this better nutritional profile that is of course at a time when the switch"},{"startTime":3179.941,"endTime":3191.125,"body":"was to subsistence agriculture in a very different way than it is now."},{"startTime":3191.955,"endTime":3195.039,"body":"Most of us, even people who grow your own, you know, we are actually fortunately"},{"startTime":3195.039,"endTime":3196.685,"body":"at very low risk of starving to death."},{"startTime":3196.925,"endTime":3199.025,"body":"'cause you can still always get down the road to the supermarket if you need"},{"startTime":3199.025,"endTime":3199.165,"body":"to."},{"startTime":3199.505,"endTime":3202.797,"body":"Um, and so I think the idea that you just kind of roll back the"},{"startTime":3202.797,"endTime":3203.016,"body":"clock and go back to kind of stone age paleo diet and everything will be"},{"startTime":3203.016,"endTime":3207.845,"body":"well is a bit, is a bit simplistic."},{"startTime":3208.145,"endTime":3213.026,"body":"Um, that notwithstanding, there are certainly things about that diet that would be useful advice"},{"startTime":3213.026,"endTime":3213.352,"body":"for people like having fresh fruit and nuts and, you know, fiber, um, we know"},{"startTime":3213.352,"endTime":3218.885,"body":"is infinitely sensible."},{"startTime":3219.025,"endTime":3220.845,"body":"Uh, and so that's kind of worth considering."},{"startTime":3220.845,"endTime":3224.133,"body":"But I would just, I would caution against someone thinking, let me live as a,"},{"startTime":3224.133,"endTime":3226.325,"body":"as a stone age man and everything will be perfectly"},{"startTime":3226.645,"endTime":3226.725,"body":"\u003claugh\u003e."},{"startTime":3226.825,"endTime":3231.835,"body":"Um, how could mRNA vaccines affect and present in our genome and long term term"},{"startTime":3231.835,"endTime":3236.845,"body":"health and what negative side effects could there be that we don't commonly speak about?"},{"startTime":3237.545,"endTime":3238.525,"body":"Oh, that's an interesting question."},{"startTime":3238.625,"endTime":3240.685,"body":"So mRNA vaccines, uh, which we're all familiar with."},{"startTime":3240.825,"endTime":3244.941,"body":"So the good, so the, the clever thing about mRNA vaccines is they don't integrate"},{"startTime":3244.941,"endTime":3245.765,"body":"into your genomes."},{"startTime":3245.765,"endTime":3248.365,"body":"They produce a protein, but they don't get inherited."},{"startTime":3248.905,"endTime":3252.243,"body":"So if like me, and hopefully like all of you, you've been, you've been vaccinated"},{"startTime":3252.243,"endTime":3252.466,"body":"quite possibly with an mr A vaccine, you're not gonna pass that on to your"},{"startTime":3252.466,"endTime":3255.805,"body":"kids."},{"startTime":3255.835,"endTime":3256.925,"body":"It's not inherited in any way."},{"startTime":3257.225,"endTime":3260.725,"body":"Um, it is a transient, if you like, uh, process."},{"startTime":3261.525,"endTime":3265.575,"body":"I think there's a sort of second part to the question there, which is theoretically"},{"startTime":3265.575,"endTime":3269.085,"body":"you could do something that is stably inherited, uh, that might be useful."},{"startTime":3269.105,"endTime":3271.445,"body":"So for example, you could tweak people's immune system."},{"startTime":3271.445,"endTime":3274.493,"body":"So one thing you could do right, is you could go back to those genes"},{"startTime":3274.493,"endTime":3274.696,"body":"that we know have protected against bubonic plague and you could say, well, maybe we"},{"startTime":3274.696,"endTime":3274.899,"body":"should kind of change those in the genome of people who don't have that version"},{"startTime":3274.899,"endTime":3281.605,"body":"to make them more resistant."},{"startTime":3282.015,"endTime":3286.44,"body":"There are very plausible reasons that you might want to do that for kind of"},{"startTime":3286.44,"endTime":3287.325,"body":"infectious disease purposes."},{"startTime":3287.525,"endTime":3291.445,"body":"I think the rheumatoid arthritis example is a, is a good caution against that."},{"startTime":3291.645,"endTime":3295.209,"body":"'cause of course you might do something for all the best intentions to change in"},{"startTime":3295.209,"endTime":3295.685,"body":"one way."},{"startTime":3296.105,"endTime":3300.636,"body":"Um, but you need to be very, very cautious about the unintended consequences about unleashing"},{"startTime":3300.636,"endTime":3301.845,"body":"some secondary effect there."},{"startTime":3302.025,"endTime":3306.168,"body":"Um, but yeah, in terms of the question itself, mRNA vaccines definitely don't affect your"},{"startTime":3306.168,"endTime":3306.445,"body":"genome."},{"startTime":3306.745,"endTime":3310.125,"body":"Um, in terms of any inherited way, um, and actually I, I'm a huge fan."},{"startTime":3310.125,"endTime":3313.181,"body":"I think they're a massively exciting technology that, uh, you know, has been hugely beneficial"},{"startTime":3313.181,"endTime":3313.385,"body":"for a Covid to 19 and hopefully will be for lots of other things in"},{"startTime":3313.385,"endTime":3316.645,"body":"the future."},{"startTime":3316.905,"endTime":3320.365,"body":"And we'll talk a little bit about that, um, in next year's series."},{"startTime":3320.505,"endTime":3323.663,"body":"So if you're really keen to come back, see you in 2025 and we'll talk"},{"startTime":3323.663,"endTime":3324.085,"body":"about those."},{"startTime":3324.665,"endTime":3329.596,"body":"Um, the map you showed at the beginning with the hybridization events showed one in"},{"startTime":3329.596,"endTime":3329.925,"body":"Australia."},{"startTime":3330.235,"endTime":3334.885,"body":"Does that mean that, um, the earlier forms of human reach Australia?"},{"startTime":3335.005,"endTime":3336.005,"body":"And if so, which ones?"},{"startTime":3336.705,"endTime":3339.565,"body":"Oh, Australia is like, it's like cats a very contentious topic."},{"startTime":3339.755,"endTime":3340.045,"body":"Okay."},{"startTime":3340.345,"endTime":3345.913,"body":"So in terms, so in terms of interbreeding, what we know definitively is that homo"},{"startTime":3345.913,"endTime":3346.284,"body":"sapiens inter bed with Neanderthals in Europe and with Denis Sas in essentially Siberia, everything"},{"startTime":3346.284,"endTime":3355.565,"body":"else is, is not known in terms of, uh, InterG aggression."},{"startTime":3355.565,"endTime":3359.165,"body":"There is a little bit of evidence about some interbreeding with a mysterious species that"},{"startTime":3359.165,"endTime":3360.125,"body":"we don't know yet."},{"startTime":3360.225,"endTime":3361.965,"body":"Uh, that's still far from determined."},{"startTime":3362.865,"endTime":3367.245,"body":"The arrival of ancient humans in Australia is a massively contested date."},{"startTime":3367.505,"endTime":3369.525,"body":"So, um, which is widely variable."},{"startTime":3369.865,"endTime":3372.387,"body":"Um, and as far as I know, I'm again happy to be corrected by those"},{"startTime":3372.387,"endTime":3373.565,"body":"listening online or those in the room."},{"startTime":3373.675,"endTime":3377.045,"body":"There's no evidence for specific interbreeding in that region."},{"startTime":3377.345,"endTime":3381.695,"body":"And actually the entire question of um, who arrived in Australia when is, is kind"},{"startTime":3381.695,"endTime":3382.565,"body":"of strongly contested."},{"startTime":3382.705,"endTime":3386.501,"body":"One of of the most interesting things come out just in the last few weeks"},{"startTime":3386.501,"endTime":3389.285,"body":"actually, is the whole genome data on, uh, native Australian populations."},{"startTime":3389.585,"endTime":3394.052,"body":"And there is very interesting, very high levels of diversity in those aboriginal populations, um,"},{"startTime":3394.052,"endTime":3397.925,"body":"which is, which is very interesting in terms of their kind of dynamics."},{"startTime":3397.925,"endTime":3402.275,"body":"So for example, it looks like different groups did not mix that radically early on"},{"startTime":3402.275,"endTime":3403.725,"body":"in the history of Australia."},{"startTime":3404.105,"endTime":3408.47,"body":"Um, and there's, I think it's a sort of untapped, interesting science question there about"},{"startTime":3408.47,"endTime":3409.925,"body":"the human evolution within Australia."},{"startTime":3410.235,"endTime":3413.645,"body":"That doesn't answer your question about m meeting with other groups outside of it though."},{"startTime":3414.205,"endTime":3415.245,"body":"I think we have time for two questions."},{"startTime":3415.245,"endTime":3417.672,"body":"I'm gonna take one question here and then I've come to you for the last"},{"startTime":3417.672,"endTime":3418.805,"body":"question 'cause you've had your hand up."},{"startTime":3419.875,"endTime":3426.06,"body":"Some people are really interested in language when you've showed the Fox P two and"},{"startTime":3426.06,"endTime":3426.472,"body":"how language conferred potentially, uh, as sort of an advantage reproductively, but they've kind of"},{"startTime":3426.472,"endTime":3426.885,"body":"extended it forward in their questions to ask how culture and human culture and art"},{"startTime":3426.885,"endTime":3444.205,"body":"and potentially even religion may have imprinted on our genome and had selection pressures."},{"startTime":3445.035,"endTime":3446.085,"body":"Another brilliant question."},{"startTime":3446.085,"endTime":3448.894,"body":"And again, I feel like some kind of, you know, I keep saying, you know,"},{"startTime":3448.894,"endTime":3450.205,"body":"follow me for the next exciting one."},{"startTime":3450.365,"endTime":3453.012,"body":"'cause in a future lecture we will talk a little bit about that kind of"},{"startTime":3453.012,"endTime":3453.365,"body":"cultural evolution."},{"startTime":3453.385,"endTime":3455.325,"body":"But, um, but let me talk a bit about that now."},{"startTime":3455.465,"endTime":3457.005,"body":"So, so language, absolutely."},{"startTime":3457.125,"endTime":3460.901,"body":"I think language is kind of one of those interesting places where it's not quite"},{"startTime":3460.901,"endTime":3461.153,"body":"as obvious as survival advantages, like fighting off infection or, or, you know, growing good"},{"startTime":3461.153,"endTime":3465.685,"body":"and true or whatever."},{"startTime":3466.145,"endTime":3469.445,"body":"But it's probably, it's less culturally there's something more intrinsic, right?"},{"startTime":3469.445,"endTime":3472.845,"body":"If you can't speak, if you can't communicate, it is quite difficult to reproduce."},{"startTime":3473.225,"endTime":3477.944,"body":"Um, and so, so that's in that hybrid place, I'd absolutely think that culture itself"},{"startTime":3477.944,"endTime":3481.405,"body":"will also select and we know anecdotally right, about certain things."},{"startTime":3481.405,"endTime":3484.665,"body":"So historically, if you were the wrong religion, your chance of successful reproduction was a,"},{"startTime":3484.665,"endTime":3487.925,"body":"is a lot lower because you might have been burned to the stake or whatever."},{"startTime":3488.185,"endTime":3491.405,"body":"Um, but usually those periods are relatively brief."},{"startTime":3491.405,"endTime":3496.459,"body":"Evolutionary speaking, I'd be kind of surprised if you could see enough genetics, for example,"},{"startTime":3496.459,"endTime":3496.796,"body":"um, around, you know, religious belief or cultural belief because they're, they're so short and"},{"startTime":3496.796,"endTime":3502.525,"body":"they're so localized."},{"startTime":3502.825,"endTime":3504.245,"body":"But I'm always happy to be proven wrong."},{"startTime":3504.245,"endTime":3508.469,"body":"And who knows in the future we might discover, you know, some strong genetic factor"},{"startTime":3508.469,"endTime":3511.285,"body":"for, I don't know, religious conform, uh, conformity or something."},{"startTime":3511.515,"endTime":3512.965,"body":"Okay, final question."},{"startTime":3513.285,"endTime":3513.485,"body":"I think"},{"startTime":3513.715,"endTime":3515.565,"body":"Very interesting, uh, lecture."},{"startTime":3516.045,"endTime":3517.125,"body":"I really appreciate it."},{"startTime":3517.425,"endTime":3523.013,"body":"I'm not, uh, medical qualified, I'm not a physicist, but the impression I get is"},{"startTime":3523.013,"endTime":3527.485,"body":"that modern medical science is causing us to defy evolution, evolutionary pressures."},{"startTime":3528.025,"endTime":3533.89,"body":"Um, I do think we're in the long term able to keep up with evolution"},{"startTime":3533.89,"endTime":3539.365,"body":"of viruses and bacteria so that we'll always have a solution to whatever befalls."},{"startTime":3539.785,"endTime":3541.885,"body":"That's, that's a high pressure question to end on, isn't it?"},{"startTime":3541.885,"endTime":3542.765,"body":"Will we survive forever?"},{"startTime":3543.145,"endTime":3547.228,"body":"Um, uh, so I rather than defy evolution, I would say we are, we are"},{"startTime":3547.228,"endTime":3548.045,"body":"certainly changing it."},{"startTime":3548.225,"endTime":3549.405,"body":"So think happily, right?"},{"startTime":3549.405,"endTime":3552.525,"body":"So many of the things that killed babies 300 years ago are not a big"},{"startTime":3552.525,"endTime":3554.605,"body":"worry to us, at least here in, in Western Europe."},{"startTime":3554.865,"endTime":3556.085,"body":"Um, and that's a great thing."},{"startTime":3556.425,"endTime":3558.485,"body":"It it clearly changes the evolutionary impact."},{"startTime":3558.965,"endTime":3561.744,"body":"I think the idea that we've somehow stepped off the, the evolutionary out of there"},{"startTime":3561.744,"endTime":3562.3,"body":"is a mistake."},{"startTime":3562.3,"endTime":3563.125,"body":"There are other pressures."},{"startTime":3563.145,"endTime":3566.61,"body":"Now there are lots of other things that influence whether we reproduce and whether our"},{"startTime":3566.61,"endTime":3569.845,"body":"kids reproduce, for example, cultural things and they will play a, a role too."},{"startTime":3570.665,"endTime":3576.165,"body":"I'm pretty optimistic generally about the opportunity for medicine to deal with big disasters."},{"startTime":3576.165,"endTime":3579.845,"body":"And we've seen happily, you know, a, a, a very strong response to COVID-19."},{"startTime":3580.505,"endTime":3582.285,"body":"Am I optimistic that we'll be able to do that forever?"},{"startTime":3583.265,"endTime":3583.885,"body":"Not so much."},{"startTime":3584.065,"endTime":3588.471,"body":"Uh, you know, I, I think historically most species come to an end at some"},{"startTime":3588.471,"endTime":3588.765,"body":"point."},{"startTime":3588.945,"endTime":3591.438,"body":"The only question is, is it gonna be in a hundred years or a million"},{"startTime":3591.438,"endTime":3591.605,"body":"years?"},{"startTime":3591.865,"endTime":3593.925,"body":"I'm voting, well, I guess a hundred, I'm still gonna be gone."},{"startTime":3593.925,"endTime":3594.445,"body":"It doesn't really matter."},{"startTime":3594.625,"endTime":3597.605,"body":"But, you know, let's, let's aim towards a million at least."},{"startTime":3597.765,"endTime":3598.285,"body":"That'd be good."},{"startTime":3598.865,"endTime":3604.005,"body":"And on that positive note, \u003claugh\u003e, I'd just like to thank Professor May again."},{"startTime":3604.235,"endTime":3606.725,"body":"Your next lecture is, is when, and that's going to pick"},{"startTime":3606.725,"endTime":3607.485,"body":"Up it's ai."},{"startTime":3607.485,"endTime":3608.045,"body":"That's a good question."},{"startTime":3608.045,"endTime":3609.365,"body":"It's about four or five weeks time I think."},{"startTime":3609.365,"endTime":3613.159,"body":"And we're going to be answering some of the questions that you asked tonight actually"},{"startTime":3613.159,"endTime":3613.412,"body":"about, uh, the impact of society, human impact, uh, things like antibiotics, disease resistance, and"},{"startTime":3613.412,"endTime":3618.725,"body":"where we might all go from here."},{"startTime":3618.985,"endTime":3622.765,"body":"So come back again, find out more, have more of your questions answered."},{"startTime":3622.895,"endTime":3623.645,"body":"Thank you again."},{"startTime":3623.775,"endTime":3624.245,"body":"Thank you."}]}