Royal Institution Christmas Lectures

Back from the Brink, the Science of Survival: Luck, Genes and Stupidity (2007x5)

:

Tonight’s presentation examines the part genetics has to play in our ability to survive. Is everyone’s ability to survive the same? Faced with the same perils, would we all cope just as well? And if not, is it down to luck or relative toughness, or is there such a thing as the will to live? Dr Montgomery’s main focus tonight is the complex world of genes –what are they and how do they make us different. How much of the way we are is ‘nature’ and how much ‘nurture’? Do our genes influence our chances of survival? Can they protect us from infections, or help us survive them? Can they allow us to run further and faster? Can they even make us feel more or less pain? In the second half of his lecture, Dr Montgomery talks to some people who have survived in the face of adversity. To what degree do they credit their endurance to training and preparation, toughness, the will to live, genetics or just good, old-fashioned luck?