| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (51 min. 31 sec.) ; 311985682 bytes |
| Summary |
In this documentary, anatomist and anthropologist Dr Alice Roberts takes a look at the evolutionary process and asks one of the great questions about the human species: are we still evolving?Many scientists had assumed that humans stopped evolving when they started insulating themselves from the forces of nature. They questioned why human genes would need to adapt if people had clothes to keep themselves warm, farming to stave off famine and medicine to make sure humans lived long enough to have children.But the mapping of the human genome means that scientists now have a history of human evolution. That has revealed some astonishing news: not only have humans continued to evolve over the past 50,000 years, they may have been evolving more quickly than at any time in history. In many cases, it is technology - the very thing that scientists thought would stop evolution - that has been driving it.Dr Roberts meets the scientists who are analysing recent changes in the human genome, and explores their evidence for recent human genetic mutations. She discovers how diseases have shaped human evolution, and how they will continue to do so, despite modern medicine. Alice also finds out just how quickly humans can change, confronting the idea that evolution takes hundreds of thousands of years. (From the UK) (Documentary) G CCFollow the conversation on Twitter #SBSdoco |
| Event |
Broadcast 2012-09-23 at 20:30:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: G |
| Subject |
Heredity, Human.
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Human beings -- Origin.
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Human evolution -- Philosophy.
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Human genetics.
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Physical anthropology.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Bootle, Olly, director
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Roberts, Alice, host
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Beall, Cynthia, contributor
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Jones, Steve, contributor
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Read, Andrew, contributor
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Sabeti, Pardis, contributor
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Steinberg, Jeff, contributor
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