• Question: What made you become so interested in genes?

    Asked by immy to Andy on 14 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by speeds.
    • Photo: Andy MacLeod

      Andy MacLeod answered on 14 Jun 2011:

      Hi immy
      I’ve always been intrigued by the natural world: the amazing diversity of plants and animals there are, and how they came about, for which I probably have David Attenborough to thank, but I can trace back my interest in genetics specifically to two books that I read when I was a teenager: “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins and “The Double Helix” by James Watson.

      I’d knew the basics of natural selection, but Dawkins’ idea of looking at evolution from the genes’ perspective made a lot more sense. The “selfish” gene of the title isn’t a gene for selfishness, but meabs the idea that evolution happens because the GENES need to replicate, to pass on copies of themselves, and they do this by causing animals to have children, passing on the genes from the parents. It’s a wonderful idea, and changed my whole view of evolution.

      Watson was part of the team that worked out the structure of DNA: the “double helix” of the title. He wrote the story like a race between different groups to find the structure. It made science sound exciting! Having read a bit more since then, I can see there were some inaccuracies or exaggerations, and some artistic license taken (science isn’t always that exciting!), but it’s still a great book to read.

Comments