Basingstoke IVC Science Cafe invite you to this free Royal Institution talk titled "Why’d you have to go and make things so complicated?"

Discover how high-performance computing can help us comprehend the world around us.

ADVANCE BOOKING IS REQUIRED FOR THIS TALK.

Please register for the event via this link: 

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/whyd-you-have-to-go-and-make-things-so-complicated-tickets-219782384027

SUMMARY
The standard view of evolution is that complex living things arise through gradual refinements of simpler precursors; each successive version becoming better adapted through natural selection, leading to exquisitely refined, complex mechanisms.

But there is another route for life to evolve complexity. Rather than being fine-tuned creations of natural selection, complex features can arise simply because biology is messy and noisy.

In this talk, Jonathan Pettitt will explain how living systems tend to make simple mechanisms more complicated than they need to be. He will show how such ‘unnecessary complexity’ can both restrict and expand an organism’s evolutionary potential.

Jonathan is the 2020 Genetics Society JBS Haldane Lecturer.

Join us live in the Ri Theatre and online when Jonathan will explain how living systems tend to make simple mechanisms more complicated than they need to be; demonstrating how such ‘unnecessary complexity’ can both restrict and expand an organism’s evolutionary potential.

SPEAKER
Jonathan Pettitt is a Reader in Genetics at the University of Aberdeen. He has a long-standing interest in applying the manifold advantages of C. elegans to study the genetics of basic animal biology. His current research investigates the molecular basis of post-transcriptional RNA processing, including nematode-specific mechanisms; the understanding of which may facilitate the development of new drugs to treat parasitic nematode infections.

This is a theatre event, where the speaker and audience in our theatre are joined by an online audience. For Theatre attendees, the address is 21 Albemarle Street, London, W1S 4BS.

TIMING
The doors will open at approximately 6.55pm, with a prompt start at 7.00pm. There will be a brief question/answer period after the talk.

Latecomers will be admitted to the gallery.