Week 3 Overview 2

I don’t want to spoil the ending, but you will get to see one of the most beautiful sights

in the world: a single cell dividing to become two cells. And on the way to that you’ll learn how they do it. Since this happens 25 million times a second in your body, it’s certainly worth knowing something about it. Meiosis explains how you got your daddy’s big feet and your mum’s lovely smile. Many plants can avoid this option, making identical offspring by sprouting from roots or shoots; it’s quicker and more efficient than sex, but the babies are identical to the parent. If a predator comes along that they can’t ward off, an entire species could be lost if it only depends on asexual or vegetative reproduction. But you can use those big feet to run away and survive! That’s natural selection.

A lot of things in this unit will blow your mind if you didn’t already know them. For example, did you know that all plants and animals, you included, are hybrids descended from ancient microbes? Or what exactly the genetic risks are when two close relatives marry? Or that being female is the genetic default condition in humans? We also get to meet two ancestors called Adam and Eve, I’m not kidding.