November 2005

Evolution: Constant Change and Common Threads

HHMI's 2005 HHMI holiday lectures on science

Open to media only

Including a hunt for fossils of stickleback fish & a discussion of evolution and religion.

Despite immense advances in evidence and understanding, there remains a societal struggle with the acceptance of our biological history and the evolutionary process.

HHMI investigators Sean Carroll and David Kingsley will explore new discoveries that have transformed our understanding of how animals, plants, and humans develop and evolve. In four lectures and a panel discussion with 200 Washington, D.C., area high school students, the scientists will discuss how Charles Darwin's fundamental concepts about evolution ignited a revolution in biology that continues to this day.

The lectures will be Webcast live to classrooms around the world.

The great extent of shared developmental machinery reveals a deep common ancestry for living forms and makes it possible to discover general rules of evolution from highly detailed studies of diverse organisms. The complete picture of human evolution includes new information emerging from fossil records, genetics, comparative physiology, and developmental biology.

Lecture 1: Endless Forms Most Beautiful
Lecture 2: Selection in Action
Lecture 3: Fossils, Genes, and Embryos
Lecture 4: From Butterflies to Humans

Sean B. Carroll, Ph.D
David M. Kingsley, Ph.D.

When?
Lectures: 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
December 1 and 2, 2005

Fossil Hunting: 1:30-3 pm Thursday, Dec. 1, 2005
Evolution & Religion Discussion: 1:30-3 pm Friday, Dec. 2, 2005

Where?
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
4000 Jones Bridge Road
Chevy Chase, Maryland

The lectures will be Webcast live and made available on free DVDs next spring.

For additional information on the content of the lectures, go to www.holidaylectures.org.

The Holiday Lectures are Webcast live at www.hhmi.org/grants/lectures/webcast/2005.htm and available on demand afterwards.