Darwin and Inheritance: Track 1

How are genetic traits handed down through generations? How did you inherit your grandfather's red hair whilst your parents are both black-haired? Even Charles Darwin himself never really understood the causes behind this. This album traces the development of our understanding of the laws of inheritance. The tracks on this album, drawn from an Open University programme first broadcast in 1998, explore the discoveries of scientists such as the botanist Mendel, and the chemist Friedrich Miescher who first identified DNA, and see how they come together with Darwin's theory of evolution to form the concepts which lie at the heart of modern genetics. Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Colin Tudge, John Maynard Smith, Steven Rose and Steve Jones.