Events

Watch the talk online.

Do we all descend from a single couple? This is a deceptively simple question, with subtle complexity. We do not appear to genetically descend from a single couple. Instead, it seems we descend from a common ancestor with the great apes, and the population size of our ancestors never dips to a single couple. Genetic ancestry, however, is not the same as genealogical ancestry. When considering genealogical descent, the answer to the question changes. Entirely consistent with the genetic evidence, it is possible that Adam and Eve, genealogical ancestors of us all, were de novo created less than 10,000 years ago in the Middle East. Consequently, it seems that  evolutionary science presses in only a very limited way on our understanding of Adam and Eve: it simply  suggest (alongside Scripture) that their descendants eventually interbred with those outside the Garden. A genealogical rapprochement between evolutionary science and traditional theology of Adam is now possible.

About the speaker

Dr Swamidass MD, PhD is an associate professor in the Laboratory and Genomic Medicine Division at Washington University in St Louis. His research focuses using computational methods solve problems at the intersection of medicine, chemistry and biology. He is the Faculty Lead for the Translational Bioinformatics Institute for Informatics, which develops machine learning for medical applications at the molecular and cellular level.

Related events

Dr Swamidass was involved in several events in October. These included
Student discussion on 29th October:
Faith and Science.

Public lecture on 29th October:
Of Apes and Artificial Minds: What does it mean to be human? 

Discussion on 30th October:
Peaceful Science: Being a Christian and a scientist. 

Statistics lecture on 31st October:
Deep Learning in Biology. 

Medical lecture on 31st October:
Modelling P450 Bioactivation: The metabolism and subsequent toxicity of drugs.

Pathology lecture on 1st November:
Of Kidneys and Blood Clots: Science and machine intelligence in healthcare.