Darwin devoted much thought to this issue but never found a satisfactory answer.

It wasn’t until the late 1940s that scientists generally agreed how their increasing understanding of genetics was consistent with natural selection and gradual evolution. This was called the ‘modern synthesis’ and today it forms the basis of evolutionary biology. One of the creators of the modern synthesis, Theodosius Dobzhansky, memorably said that:

“… nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution”.

Evolution is indeed the central unifying concept in biology, but researchers in many fields including molecular and cellular biology, developmental biology, microbiology and neuroscience have only recently begun to think seriously in terms of evolution. The chief reason for this shift in thinking is the growing list of organisms — from bacteria to primates — with sequenced genomes, plus the development of increasingly sophisticated ways of interpreting DNA and protein sequences.

Darwin would no doubt have been delighted to see how modern genetics supports and confirms many of his ideas, and provides evidence not only for what has happened in the course of evolution, but precisely how living things evolve. DNA is the forensic evidence for evolution.

DNA to Darwin Courses

The DNA to Darwin resources will be sent free-of-charge to all UK secondary schools later this year, but to assist with their use, the Wellcome Trust is funding a series of subsidised workshops for UK teachers at the regional Science Learning Centres. Further details can be found here.