The New Science of Heredity with Carl Zimmer

Today we have Carl Zimmer on the podcast. Zimmer reports from the frontiers of biology, where scientists are expanding our understanding of life. Since 2004 he was written about science for the New York Times, where his column “Matter” has appeared weekly since 2013. Zimmer has won many awards for his work, including the Stephen Jay Gould Prize, awarded by the Society for the Study of Evolution to recognize individuals whose sustained efforts have advanced public understanding of evolutionary science. Zimmer is the author of thirteen books about science. His latest book is She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Power, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity.

In this episode, we discuss:

The difference between genetics and heredity
The perils and promises of gene-editing technologies
The potential for unethical application of emerging genetics findings
The potential for misuse of the genetics of intelligence in education
The potential perils of genetically modified mosquitoes
The potential perils of genetically modified crops
The quirky nature of epigenetics
The existence of “human chimeras”
The limitations of DNA testing

About the guest

Carl Zimmer

Podcast Guest

Carl Zimmer is an American popular science writer, blogger, columnist, and journalist who specializes in the topics of evolution, parasites, and heredity. The author of many books, he contributes science essays to publications such as The New York Times, Discover, and National Geographic. He is a fellow at Yale University's Morse College and adjunct professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry at Yale University.

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The New Science of Heredity with Carl Zimmer

Carl Zimmer

11 years ofhuman possibility

11 years of
human possibility