Skip to 0 minutes and 10 seconds Why do we age? Which is the role of genes in our behavior? Is hierarchy a cultural trait or are there biological bases? Altruism and cooperation exist in other species without our culture? Will we be able to engineer the humans of the future? To have a constructive discussion on these questions, no doubt, you need to have basic biology knowledge. This is what will make the difference between having an opinion and having criteria. Hello, I’m Jaume Bertranpetit, professor of Biology at Pompeu Fabra University.
Skip to 0 minutes and 54 seconds Even if “post-truth” was selected word of the 2016 year, in this course we will follow the opposite: how having a scientific and biological base may help us to understand how biology is important today, in what we are and in what we do; and how biotechnologies may develop in the future. A wide range of disciplines study the human condition from a very wide variety of views. But, have you ever though that at the end we are living beings and that this condition may be fundamental to interpret facets of human morphology, physiology but also many aspects of behavior that seldom are considered?
Skip to 1 minute and 38 seconds To which extent the fact that we are products of an evolutionary process may have had a footprint in our entity? And we, as organic beings, to which extent may we understand ourselves under a “simple” biological base?
Skip to 1 minute and 55 seconds Biology may be an old discipline, but the power and success of it came from the confluence of two recent events: 1- when we gained a vision of the organisms at the molecular level, in which it is possible to understand the most basic mechanisms that support the existence of complex living beings. One of the most fascinating revolutions came with the recognition of the role of DNA as the chemical base of heredity.
Skip to 2 minutes and 26 seconds and, 2- when we have had an evolutionary view of life, which, as stated in a famous quote: Evolution not only explains HOW things are, but also WHY they are the way they are. Let’s make an exercise. Let’s see the points that have direct biological implications of the news of a single day. Would you like to really understand these topics? Don’t you feel that you need to know better many topics before having a real and reliable judgment on them? Sign up on this course. Knowledge on biology is essential in thinking what kind of future awaits us, which will surely be driven by our ability on understanding and modifying the genetic systems; including our own.
