Lecture 2 - Darwin's Dangerous Idea

Question 1

Chapter 1 & 2: Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle

Answer 1

• Only left England once in his life.
• 5 year voyage which he began at the age of 22.
• The voyage which was sponsored by the British Government was primarily to map the coastline of South America.
• Darwin was the ship’s naturalist and as such he collected specimens of plants and animals and kept meticulous notes on his observations.
• The material he collected and the observations he made, was the raw material for development of his ideas of evolution by natural selection, developed over many years following his incredible voyage.

Question 2

Chapter 5: HIV

Answer 2

• Evolution of HIV and the difficulties in treating people who are HIV positive because of the very rapid evolution of drug-resistance by the virus.
• The program looks at a treatment program called Treatment Interruption as a way to counteract the difficulties of treatment HIV brought on by the fact that the virus is constantly evolving drug resistant.