Discover
DNA
Various science activities to try at home, from DNA extraction to crystal growing
Some exciting experiments for you to carry out at home! Grow your own crystal, make plastic or paint, build a DNA molecule or even do gel electrophoresis in your own kitchen. Follow the link below:
Can we stop ageing?
We’re pretty obsessed with the concept of ageing. Ancient civilizations supposedly sought an ‘elixir of life’, and today many of us get hung up on finding a way to ‘younger looking skin’… But what’s the science behind ageing? What determines the life expectancy of a species and – time for the 'big question' – can we stop ageing? We ask Alison...
Tess Johnson
As a DPhil candidate in Philosophy, I am based at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. During my undergraduate studies in biology and anthropology at the Australian National University, I took an amazing class in bioethics, and discovered a love for asking the big “should” questions about scientific developments—from new reproductive...
A week in the WIMM: how students see scientists
The WIMM actively supports the development of aspiring young scientists, and every summer the Institute opens its doors to a variety of students at different stages in their academic careers.
George Busby
George followed his lifelong passion for the natural world to read Zoology at Edinburgh University. In Edinburgh, he got hooked on evolutionary science and conservation fieldwork in Africa and has remained in academic scientific research ever since. Following Edinburgh, he studied for further research degrees, including a Masters in...
Simon Hiscock
Prof Simon Hiscock is Director of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, and a Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant Sciences.
His research focuses on using genetics and genomics to explore the fundamental processes underlying plant reproduction and evolution. He is currently working on the Senecio (ragworts,...
Alison Woollard
Alison is an Associate Professor in the Biochemistry Department at the University of Oxford where she leads a research team working on the genetics of the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Her current work concerns molecular mechanisms of cell fate determination and morphogenesis during C. elegans development, as well as research on...
Talk on how DNA provides a record of the impact of natural selection on animal evolution
In this video, Professor Chris Ponting from Oxford University talks about genomes. Although we have now completely sequenced the human genome, there is still much that we don't understand. For example, there is still a vast portion of the human genome that we call "Junk DNA" - the function of many parts of the human genome remains obscure.
'Light' Part 3 - How does sunlight damage DNA?
Once we've received our genetic make-up from our parents our genomes are stable, right? What causes mutations in our DNA as we live and grow, and how do our cells repair damage?
Greger Larson
I received my bachelor's degree in 1996 from Claremont McKenna College, a small liberal arts college in California. I then read just about everything Stephen J Gould ever wrote over the following three years while wandering the deserts of Turkmenistan and working for an environmental consultancy in Azerbaijan. Deciding that evolution was cooler...
