ISSN 1359-9321 The Galton Institute

NEWSLETTER

Galtonia candicans Issue Number 80 Summer 2013

supervised by their Science Master, Contents was in Issue No. 78. Antho- EDITORIAL ny Edwards offers a more mature and wide sweeping account. They all agree Editorial 1 it is an excellent book. In this issue we mourn the death Robert Edwards 1

and celebrate the life and works of Obituary Bob Edwards in a short obituary to Robert Edwards European Human add to that in Newsletter No 75 of 27 September, 1925 - 10 April, 2013 Behaviour and Spring 2011. I shall be delighted if Evolution Conference members wish to add their own Professor Sir Robert Edwards, CBE, 2013 2 tributes and if there are enough FRS died on 10th April 2013. He was contributions we can have a special a longstanding member of the Galton Early Pregnancy and issue. Institute and gave the 1982 Galton Lecture which was most prescient: he childbearing 4 The account of the 1st Tarragona Laterality Conference is an example of explained the difficulties of research where diverse disciplines which do in an unsupported field without First International not normally meet come together and dwelling on the active resistance he Tarragona Laterality may discover new concepts where the encountered. He devoted much time to discussing the ethics of his work; Conference 5 cusps of their fields touch. As a thwarted sinistral I have a personal his thoughts are profound and antici- Galton Institute interest. pate much of what has occurred since. The magisterial account of his life by Conference 2013 6 The report of the African Society of Professor Martin Johnson was Human Genetics meeting in is published in the 75th Newsletter of African Society of tantalizingly brief, but its published Spring 2011; this provides the details Human Genetics 7 proceedings will make up for that. normally found in an obituary. The third conference supported by Sir Robert altered the way people Book Review 8 the Institute is that of the EHBEA in live by solving the problems behind in Amsterdam in March 2013 and is also Published by: -vitro fertilization. He provided hope reported in this issue. With over for the 10% of all couples who are The Galton Institute three full days of papers and presen- infertile. So far over five million 19 Northfields Prospect tations this will also benefit from full children have been born by IVF and Northfields publication and may expand upon the the research interest spawned by this LONDON SW18 1PE findings on reproductive timing and technique has led to refinements and childhood adversity which Stephanie a different approach to fertilization. Telephone: 020-8874 7257 www.galtoninstitute.org.uk Clutterbuck also discusses in her Thereby he brought joy and happiness

personal report. as well as life to millions of people General Secretary: I make no apology for a second worldwide; few can hope to achieve Mrs Betty Nixon review of Tom Blaney's book The that in their lifetime. Chief Sea Lion's Inheritance. The Newsletter Editor: first, by two talented six-formers Geoffrey Vevers Dr Geoffrey Vevers

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read. Gilbert Roberts presented on After the coffee break, Arno Riedl cooperation and reputation-building showed us how competition for part- The European Human behaviour as a social signal for part- ners can sustain cooperation in Behaviour and Evolution ners. The morning session was then groups of participants playing the split into two concurrent sessions prisoner’s dilemma game. Lars Pen- Conference 2013 with Caroline Uggla speaking about ke, using a 3D body and face scanner, markers of parental investment in found that participant’s physical dif- Sub-Saharan Africa, and their rela- ferences were either marginally pre- The 8th Annual European Human tion to children’s outcomes, while dictive (men) or not predictive Behaviour and Evolution Association Kenny Smith presented models (women) of certain social personality conference was held at the Vrije Uni- relating to both the learnability and traits. Iris Holzleitner showed us versiteit (VU) University in Amster- expressivity of language, and how evidence that male masculinity, dam from March 24th-27th, 2013 different social structures predict one weight, and height, as assessed (organized by Mark van Vugt, being favoured over the other. Paul through 3D rotating face models, pre- Fleur Thomése, Josh Tybur, and Mathews then investigated whether dicted perceptions of their masculini- Thomas Pollet, as well as numer- subtle primes in the form of survey ty and dominance, but not health. ous student volunteers). question ordering could have effects Following the talks, an interesting on human reproductive decision discussion of the future of open ac- There were over 200 registered making. Steije Hofhuis then dis- cess publishing took place. Rebecca attendees and a packed programme cussed the viral nature of witch perse- Sear, Fiona Routley, Peter including five plenaries, 42 talks, 95 cutions. Susan Schaffnit presented Nijkamp, and Kristen Hawkes posters, and one New Investigator her findings that living with ones’ were the panel members providing Award Winner presentation. Funding parents hinders a woman’s overall their views on the future of open ac- was generously provided by the De- fitness, but promotes earlier first cess publishing in the field of evolu- partment of Social and Organisation- births. In the other session, Dominic tion and human behaviour. al Psychology within the Faculty of Mitchell showed us a model predict- Psychology and Pedagogical Sciences ing that in certain contexts, listening Day 3 to gossip may be favoured even when at the VU, the Department of Sociolo- The morning began with Simon it is likely to be low in veracity. gy within the Faculty of Social Scienc- Gächter’s plenary, where he synthe- es at the VU, and the Galton Institute. sised research findings from behav- NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor After lunch, we heard about Dan- ioural economics. Next, Ulf Tölch Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) and iel Taylor’s model on excludability showed us that when individuals are Springer Publishers supported the of resources, with food sharing and confronted with different types of session on open access publishing. warfare by the Ache and Turkana information, i.e. social vs. individual, providing evidence that reciprocation in a social decision-making context, Day 1 may yet be able to fully explain hu- they behave in a less-than optimal man cooperation. On a very different way than predicted by Bayesian mod- On Sunday evening, Joe Henrich topic, Poppy Mulvaney showed us elling. Afterwards, Dave Mallpress was the first plenary speaker of the that a man’s facial masculinity can presented a potential model to ex- conference, with a fascinating intro- alter perceiver’s willingness to pre- plain variations in risk-seeking be- spective of gene-culture coevolution sent fair offers in an ultimatum game, haviour. There were again two con- in humans and the evolution of hu- with some cross-cultural differences current sessions. In the first, Anto- man cooperation. noted between the UK and US. Han- nio Silva (the Best Student Presen-

nah Cornish examined how a diffu- tation Winner) told us about context Day 2 sion chain using learned sequences of dependent cooperation as measured After the official opening (by Mark the popular 80’s pattern-learning by the ‘lost letter technique’. Max- van Vugt, the rector of the VU Uni- game ‘Simon’ inevitably decreased in ime Derex then went on to discuss versity Lex Bouter, and the presi- complexity within a few generations, how process-copying produced better dent of EHBEA, Robert Barton), likening it to language systematicity. outcomes than either product- the morning plenary was given by Michael Price concluded the ses- copying or individual learning in a Cecelia Heyes in which she likened sion with a study showing that in in- virtual fishing-net making task. The how humans acquire their ability to dividuals and across US states, when first session concluded with Lucas understand others’ thoughts through women are financially dependent on Molleman, who examined the indi- cultural and social learning, to the their partners, anti-promiscuity sen- vidual differences in social learning processes involved in learning to timent increases. strategies used by participants across

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four different, repeated laboratory mental plasticity hypothesis is not plicity as opposed to becoming more games. Meanwhile, in the second supported in a Finnish population complex. Cristina Moya then pre- concurrent session Ton Groothuis using a longitudinal dataset, by pre- sented her findings on inter-group explained that left-handers do not senting findings that individuals with prejudice and beliefs through an evo- appear to have any combat ad- greater early life adversity were more lutionary lens. The last talk of this vantages and are not overrepresented affected (lower survival and repro- session was by Fredrick Jansson, in pre-industrial societies high in ductive success) by subsequent fam- who presented a mathematical model homicide, thereby challenging the ine in later life. Bringing the presen- highlighting factors needed for the ‘fighting hypothesis’. Subsequently, tations of day 3 to a close, Emily successful merging of cultures. Ferenc Kocsor presented on Emmott presented longitudinal da- Martjin Egas started the second whether adult’s and children’s at- ta showing that the negative effects session by showing us that when peo- tachment and family experiences can on the educational attainment and ple judge whether to reciprocally dictate the preference for faces of behaviour in children due to step- help someone, they are more likely to strangers vs. faces manipulated to father presence could stem from the trust their own personal experience resemble their parents. Lene Aarøe step-father’s lower investment in rather than other’s experiences with concluded this session presenting her those children. After these presenta- that person. Next Edwin van Leeu- work on the relationship between tions there was a poster session with wen presented his research findings anti-immigration attitudes and the a great variety of topics covered, and that chimpanzees will not switch to a behavioural immune system. all sub-disciplines of EHBEA were new strategy in order to conform to a represented. There were 95 posters group majority, but will switch if the Following lunch, we reconvened to in total, and some can be viewed at: new strategy increases their maxi- hear Abraham Buunk’s plenary http://www.ehbea2013.com/ mum gains. The final talk of the ses- reviewing the many factors which ehbea_details/upload/ sion was given by Edward Cart- may influence men and women’s list_posters.php wright, who presented evidence that jealousy: from height, 2D:4D finger two types of leadership roles can ratios, waist-to-hip and shoulder-to- emerge in an evolutionarily stable Day 4 hip ratios, to hormonal shifts during strategy using a game theory ap- a woman’s menstrual cycle. Julien The last day of the conference proach. Barthes then argued that high social started with a plenary by Kristen stratification and hypergyny are like- Hawkes, who proposed that hu- After lunch, the last plenary of the ly factors in predicting male homo- mans differ in our longevity and re- conference was given by the EHBEA sexual preferences. Simon Powers productive cessation compared with New Investigator Award Winner Da- used mathematical modelling to as- other great apes, potentially due to vid Lawson, who discussed how, in certain that cooperation can evolve in the increased cooperation and grand- humans, modern societal structure small groups, and that through social mothering seen in our species. The has affected the two main goals all institutions, this cooperation can be morning continued with a talk by organisms share – gaining resources, maintained even as these groups in- Claire El Mouden (replacing and reproducing. Next, Joanna crease in size. Max Burton-Chellew) who cau- Bryson argued that altruistic pun- tioned researchers not to over- ishment may be a useful strategy to interpret prosocial behaviours in maximise public goods investment, After a short break, Paula Shep- public-goods games, as these results using mathematical modelling simu- pard showed, using a large longitu- may be oversimplifications of more lations. To conclude this session, dinal dataset, that girls whose moth- complex human behaviours. Finally, Elisabeth Bolund presented data er or father was absent from the the last presentation of the session using a longitudinal dataset to reason childhood home were significantly was by Willem Frankenhuis who that while both men and women have more likely to have sex earlier, marry tested a hypothesis on differential different phenotypic optima for re- earlier, and have children earlier levels of developmental plasticity in production, there is likely no genetic than those with both parents present. children using mathematical model- conflict between the sexes. Subsequently, Paul Smaldino pre- ling. sented a model-based approach to Aljaz Ule led us into the last four the evolution of cooperation in harsh After a short break there were two talks of the conference by revealing environments, finding that these en- parallel sessions. In the first session, that inter-group competition is able vironments can select for cooperative Masanori Takezawa discussed to foster intra-group cooperation and behaviour, with specific emphasis on how information transmitted over decrease indiscriminate punishment, childrearing. Next Ian Rickard generations, through cultural evolu- in laboratory reciprocity games. showed us that the adaptive develop- tion, may actually increase in sim- Mariska Kret then presented her

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research on how pupillary contagion who lived with their parents had low- Viktoria Mileva can be used to inform decision- est reproductive fitness, while those (University of Stirling) making as it can induce trust and living with their mothers-in-law had and Thomas Pollet decrease deception. Next, Lisa the highest. The winners of the post- (Asst. Professor, DeBruine spoke on the differences er and student presentations were VU University Amsterdam.) between morphological vs. perceptu- also announced, with the former al masculinity in faces and suggested awarded to Bronwyn Tar for her A modified version of this report is that using discriminant scores to poster ‘Silent Disco Experiment: published in the EHBEA newsletter. measure male morphological facial Dance synchrony, prosociality and masculinity may be inappropriate to endorphins’ while the latter went to accurately assess masculinity. Lastly, Antonio Silva for his presentation EHBEA would like to thank The Kristin Snopkowski presented ‘Lost letter measure of variation in Galton Institute who helped sup- data using a longitudinal Indonesian altruism and parochialism in 30 port this conference with a grant of dataset which showed that women neighbourhoods’. £1,000.

fants than males, a difference that terested in infants than their peers. emerges during adolescence. I pre- In fact it was those girls with less Early pregnancy and dicted that girls who have experi- childhood adversity, namely those childbearing: enced greater childhood adversity with greater feelings of family sup- will be on a faster reproductive tra- port, who had more interest in in- A psychosocial jectory and will also exhibit an in- fants. approach creased level of interest in infants. To test this I recruited 354 girls aged 9- Although these findings were unex- by 14 years from schools in the metro- pected, interestingly they do accord Stephanie Clutterbuck politan borough of North Tyneside to with evolutionary theories on repro- take part in the study. The girls com- ductive strategies. We know that Title: Childhood adversity, pleted a questionnaire, which meas- higher levels of adversity indicate a ured the common factors of child- less predictable environment and one reproductive timing and hood adversity such as parental ab- where resources may not always be interest in infants sence, stepfather presence, number readily available. In this type of envi- of siblings, neighbourhood depriva- ronment a good strategy is to begin tion, residential relocations, family reproducing early and often because As a PhD student in the Centre for support and perception of neigh- the scarcity of resources means there Behaviour and Evolution at Newcas- bourhood quality. None of the girls is less available to invest less in each tle University I have been studying were mothers, so the questionnaire child. Alternatively less adverse envi- the relationship between childhood included an item on their ideal age at ronments are more predictable and adversities, intended reproductive parenthood. Although we cannot be resources are likely to be more abun- timing and interest in infants in ado- sure if this will mirror future repro- dant. In this scenario it pays to have lescent females. ductive behaviour, prior studies have fewer children and invest more in shown that intended reproductive each one. My findings that girls ex- The relationship between child- timing is a good proxy for actual re- periencing greater adversity want hood adversity and reproductive tim- productive timing. I also measured children sooner but are not neces- ing has been well supported in the interest in infants using two different sarily more interested in them pro- literature. Females who experience methods. One was a paper-based tool vides some evidence that these fe- more early life adversity tend to have used previously by researchers to male reproductive strategies might a younger age at first birth than fe- explicitly measure interest in infants be established relatively early on in males who do not experience such and the other was a novel computer life. adversity. To help explain this rela- task I designed to measure this con- tionship I investigated the role of struct. interest in infants as a possible psy- chological mechanism. Scientists In line with my prediction, and the have proposed that interest in infants literature, I found that girls with The Galton Institute are part- may help females develop the care- higher levels of childhood adversity funding with Newcastle University taking skills needed to successfully reported a younger ideal age at first this research into The Psychoso- rear children. Indeed females tend to birth. However, contrary to my pre- cial context of early childbear- show higher levels of interest in in- diction these girls were not more in- ing in North Tyneside.

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marks on prehistoric fossil teeth. Linda Marchant's discussion of These showed that Neanderthals how manual behavioural laterality is were extremely right-handed. He measured, tackling pitfalls, terminol- First International presented tantalising new evidence to ogy problems, and errors in statistical Tarragona Laterality suggest right-handedness might ex- procedures. She highlighted issues Conference tend as far back as Homo habilis at that have been published despite 1.8 million years ago. Next, Dr Mari- lacking scientific rigour. Professor na Lozano presented her work on Dick Byrne discussed the problems tooth cut-marks on Homo heidelber- of comparing handedness in human 11-13 February 2013 at the gensis fossils from Atapuerca, which and non-human primates when the IPHES also show an extremely right-handed study methods and questions are dif- (Catalan Institute of Human bias, both in adults and children. Par- ferent. After presenting his famous Paleoecology and Social Evolu- ticipants then discussed the diet of gorilla plant-processing techniques, tion) in Tarragona and excur- our ancestors, possible causes of the he asked whether different species sion to the Mona Foundation in cut-marks, and the range of cultural can even be compared, proposing Girona, Spain. activities that traditional peoples liv- instead that each species has its own ing today are known to do with their task difficulty rankings. teeth. From an evolutionary point of The "TLC" was the first in what is Dr Ignacio Martinez continued view, scientists are still trying to un- hoped will become a regular confer- with his work on evidence for speech derstand why there is a stable minor- ence. Its aim was to bring together in fossil humans, to complement the ity of left-handers in the human spe- laterality researchers from a wide laterality data. The presence of cies, despite the prevalence of a pre- variety of disciplines to discuss the speech can be inferred from skull dominant right-hand bias, which pre- genetics and behaviour of right- and shape, the ear's bandwidth percep- sumably evolved through selection. left-handedness. tion capacities, and the shape of the Dr Michel Raymond presented his ear bones. He presented the possibil- findings in support of the "fighting The origin of human laterality is a ity that Sima de los Huesos hominins hypothesis", which is one possible complex issue that is studied by sev- were at an intermediate stage of evo- explanation for the persistence of this eral diverse disciplines which rarely lution, which could indicate an inter- left-handed minority. In competitive communicate with each other, yet mediate level of right-handed behav- sports, a left-handed advantage be- can benefit from exchanging iour. Dr James Steele then gave an comes stronger the closer the two knowledge. This conference brought overview of his Hand to Mouth pro- opponents are to each other physical- together international experts from ject, which focused on the evolution ly. Another hypothesis was tested by different disciplines to present the of speech, brain asymmetry, and Dr Alan Beaton, who presented cutting edge of research on the ori- handedness. He presented his latest data from his hormone-sniffing ex- gins and evolution of human handed- data comparing primate and human periments, which showed that an- ness. This was the first time that all brains to show which brain areas re- drostenol presented to the right nos- these disciplines came together to ceived the strongest selective forces tril made men feel more lively, while present the latest research in each in Homo sapiens. when presented to the left nostril field. Discussions focused on achiev- made men more aggressive and irri- ing a better understanding of the re- After lunch, Dr Amandine table. Thus it seems the hormone lationship between human genetics Chapelain discussed her findings on effects interact with the brain hemi- and behaviour. an extensive project to map the hand spheric differences. preference patterns of bonobos (Pan The welcome speech was given by paniscus) by studying a large part of Professor Chris McManus in- Professor Eudald Carbonell, the the world's bonobo population. While troduced the genetics topics with his director of IPHES, which hosted the she found that some individuals had data on geographical handedness conference. He introduced the centre strong hand preferences for one or variation. Interestingly, in the U.S. and stressed the importance of multi- several actions, there was no group- there are fewer left-handers among disciplinary work to advance research level bias, meaning individuals were the Republican states. On Day 2, on human evolution and behaviour. either right- or left-handed. Thus, the moving to a genetic theory of the evo- The first invited speaker was Profes- human pattern of 85% right- lution of brain laterality, Professor sor David Frayer, who presented handedness is not found among Tim Crow showed that a gene called his latest findings of lateralised cut- bonobos. This was followed by Dr Protocadherin 11XY is the only one

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that changed during human evolu- diet became generalist, thus necessi- (when the owners realise they do not tion, thus making it the best candi- tating more woodworking, plant pro- make good pets), circuses (often sick date for human cerebral asymmetry cessing, and meat consumption. The from maltreatment), or customs offi- and language. He argued this sup- use of stone tools for butchery would cials (from countries trying to smug- ports a saltational theory of evolu- have reinforced the slight right-hand gle them into Spain). The centre tries tion. Dr Neil Roberts continued bias already in place, which in turn to nurse them back to health – often this theme by discussing brain asym- promoted stronger brain lateralisa- succeeding – and then to integrate metries in humans and chimpanzees, tion, which continued to reinforce them into the social ape groups living torque, and the planum temporale. the hand preference. at the centre. The work is supported Dr Emiliano Bruner discussed the by charity and has a thriving group of pitfalls and methods of paleoneurolo- The lecture portion of the confer- 14 chimpanzees as testimony to their gy, arguing that asymmetries are not ence closed with a long and animated success. The tour walked around the likely to be detectable. Moving onto discussion about the links between outside of the enclosure and was able living brains, Dr Georg Meyer pre- disciplines and avenues for further to witness the food-filled hosepipes sented results of brain imaging stud- research: key genes, finger role dif- used to test hand preference, as well ies using ultrasound, which measures ferentiation, preference vs. perfor- as being able to watch chimpanzees brain activation in the left and right mance, laterality in mice, hand pref- up close through a one-way mesh hemispheres. erences across tasks, fists evolved for screen. This visit gave all participants fighting, and the complexity of bi- an insight into the chimpanzees who Professor John Gowlett pre- manual collaboration. Then partici- are the comparative species of refer- sented his research on asymmetry in pants were treated to a tour of the ence for handedness studies in hu- Acheulean bifaces, which show an IPHES building. They visited the fos- mans, and it was much appreciated offset symmetry which seems to be sil bone collections, preparation by all. intentionally made by hominins 1 rooms, stone tool analysis areas, and million years ago. Then Dr Natalie research areas in which world-class The TLC organisers (Natalie Uomini presented her work on the human evolution research is being Uomini and Marina Lozano) handedness ratios of prehistoric hu- carried out. would like to thank The Galton In- man ancestors, showing that the Ne- stitute for their generous support, anderthals had a similar ratio as liv- Each evening after the talks there with a grant of £1,000, without ing humans. Dr Marie-Helene were poster sessions, where 8 regis- which this conference would not have Moncel showed her findings from tered participants presented posters. been possible. the Neanderthal site of Payre, in They were so interesting that the two France, where symmetrical triangu- hours allocated for posters were not GALTON INSTITUTE lar flint points were, unexpectedly, enough. Topics were: handedness in Conference 2013 used asymmetrically. These stone stone tools (posters by Amalia Bar- The Royal Society tool papers highlighted the im- gallo and Eder Dominguez- portance of archaeological sites for Ballesteros), language and laterali- 6 November, 2013 pinpointing key dates in handedness ty (posters by Cedric Boeckx and evolution. Katherine Mumford), handedness Insect and zoonose genomes development (Helene Cochet), and human health To close the second day, Dr Mi- handedness in fossil hominins quel Llorente presented his work (Almudena Estalrrich), laterality on chimpanzee handedness at the in monkeys (Ana Morcillo), and Speakers: Mona Foundation, which the confer- imitational handedness (Nele Zick- Professor Francois Balloux ence visited on Day 3. His ethological ert). Professor Andrea Crisanti and experimental program since Professor Jules Hoffmann 2002 revealed that different tasks On Day 3, conference participants Professor David Horn elicit different levels of handedness. were taken by bus to Girona to visit Dr Frank Jiggins Dr Marina Mosquera followed on the Mona Foundation chimpanzee Professor Dominic Kwiatkowski by discussing the results in terms of sanctuary. First, the director of the Dr Allan Spradling the task complexity theory, which centre, Olga Feliu, gave a brief proposes that hominins began need- presentation of the centre, explaining Admission free but strictly by ticket ing to engage in more complex tasks how the centre receives chimpanzees From: [email protected] at 2.5 million years ago when their from various sources such as homes

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Trust and the National Institutes of kidney disease and cervical cancer. African Society of Human Health (NIH) to support African sci- Our second plenary keynote talk was Genetics 8th Scientific entists to work on African diseases, in delivered by Professor Griffin Rogers, African populations, in Africa Director of the National Institute of Meeting held in conjunction (www.h3africa.org). Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Dis- with the H3Africa The theme of this year’s confer- eases at NIH who spoke about the Consortium ence was ‘Advancing Genomics Re- translational research in non- May 19th-21st 2013 search in Africa’. The scientific pro- communicable diseases such as dia- Accra, gramme opened with a keynote ad- betes that is on-going in the USA, and By dress from Professor Dame Kay Da- its implications for African popula- Melanie Newport vies, from the University of Oxford, tions. who spoke about her translational Sessions on pharmacogenomics research programme in Duchenne in the African context and developing The 8th international scientific muscular dystrophy - from molecular bio-repository infrastructure in Africa meeting of the African Society of Hu- biology to public health. Dame Kay were well-attended and focused on man Genetics (AfSHG), took place in played a key role in the discovery of some of the H3Africa projects and the May 2013 in Accra, Ghana. The the molecular basis of Duchenne challenges of developing bio- meeting was held jointly with the Hu- muscular dystrophy and after an ex- repositories in Africa. Nicky Mulder man Heredity and Health in Africa planation of the biology of the disease and Nicky Tiffin ran a session on bio- (H3Africa) initiative and was attend- she discussed advances towards de- informatics for Africa and described ed by over 150 people from all around veloping novel therapies for the dis- their work developing an African bio- the world. By coincidence AfSHG ease. There have been exciting devel- informatics network. The highlight held its inaugural conference in Accra opments in the field that bypass many of the day was a keynote address from 10 years ago following the completion of the challenges of using established Professor Sir Walter Bodmer of the Human Genome Project (HGP) gene therapy methods for this condi- (University of Oxford) and Professor in 2003. The HGP delivered an accu- tion (for example, the mutated gene is Ebenezer Laing () rate and publically available reference very large) and clinical trials in hu- entitled ‘RA Fisher, Human genetics sequence of the human genome, mans are on the horizon. and the genetic structure of the UK which had provided scientists with population’. Sir Walter and Professor unprecedented opportunities to use There then followed sessions on Laing were PhD students together in information encoded in our DNA to the migration history of the African Cambridge and RA Fisher was their shed light on human history, health people covering evolutionary, anthro- supervisor, so there was an historical and biology. Given the anticipated pological and genome perspectives aspect to the talk that was fascinating scientific and economic impact of the (all credit to the speakers in this ses- for the whole audience and paved the HGP, there was a need for a society of sion who delivered their talks without way for Sir Walter to present his re- human genetics that would address Powerpoint slides during a 2 hour search on genetic diversity within the specific challenges associated with power cut), followed by a session on UK population. undertaking genetics research in Afri- admixed African ancestry population can populations and ensure that the covering conceptual understanding of The final day saw sessions on ge- existing equity gap in health care and admixture and how it can be used to nomic approaches to Mendelian dis- research capacity between high and map disease genes. Each session was orders in Africa and ethical challeng- low income countries did not widen led by two or three invited speakers es in genomic and genetic research in as a result of such advances. AfSHG giving overview talks followed by Africa. The conference finished with was thus established and its first short presentations that were selected a panel discussion around training meeting held in Accra in 2003. The from submitted abstracts. A session and career development in genetics primary aim of AfSHG is to equip the on genomics and genetics of infec- and genomic science in Africa, which African scientific community and pol- tious diseases covered trypanosomia- was very useful for the audience. icy makers with the information and sis, drugs resistant tuberculosis, Young investigator prizes were practical knowledge they need to con- leishmaniasis and malaria. awarded to the best oral presenta- tribute to the fields of genetics, re- Day 2 began with a teaching session tions and posters from eligible partic- search and to attract global attention on the analysis of genome wide asso- ipants. Delegates then enjoyed a fas- to the efforts of African scientists. ciation and sequence data followed by cinating guided tour of the Kwame AfSHG was instrumental in the estab- a session on the genetics and ge- Nkrumah Memorial Park. lishment of the H3Africa initiative, a nomics of non-communicable diseas- Further details of programme and programme funded by the Wellcome es covering obesity, type II diabetes, speakers can be found on the AfSHG

GALTON INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER 7 SUMMER 2013

website (www.afshg.org) where pho- acknowledged fully on the website. research. tographs and Powerpoint presenta- We are particularly grateful to the tions from the meeting will be posted. Galton Institute which helped fund Melanie Newport is Professor in We are grateful to our supporters the conference with a grant of £1000 Infectious Diseases and Global in particular the Wellcome Trust and allowing an early career African re- Health at Brighton and Sussex Medi- Affymetrix, as well as others searcher to attend and present her cal School.

R.C.Punnett (Caius, 1894), about to scribed, and one can see how the en- BOOK REVIEW become the first Arthur Balfour Pro- thusiasm which first greeted the im- fessor of Genetics, and John plications of Mendelism for Francis Maynard Keynes (not a bad choice as Galton’s ideals rather quickly evapo- Tom Blaney: Treasurer). rated amongst the members of a fam- The Chief Sea Lion’s Inher- ily too thoughtful and too cautious to itance: Eugenics and the George, Francis, Leonard and Hor- embrace any measures likely to have Darwins Pub. Matador (2011), ace were, of course, four of Charles effect. C.G.Darwin was the only one ISBN 978 1848766 211. £10.99. and Emma Darwin’s sons, and Fisher of the third generation to have had knew them all (William, the fifth and eldest, had become a banker and was any involvement, but as Tom suc- For the Darwin bicentenary in 2009 not involved). Fisher was to become a cinctly states ‘And when it came to the did not sort of honorary Darwin, the son that his great interest in later life in the celebrate as it did with its 1909 Leonard Darwin never had, and theories of his namesakes, grandfa- ‘Darwin Celebration’ – Honorary when his own son Harry was born, ther Darwin and godfather Galton, he had little new to say, but was never Doctorates of Science for twenty for- Leonard was his godfather and Harry short of confidence in saying it’. On eign scientists and Francis Darwin, was given ‘Leonard’ as his middle Reception by the Chancellor Lord name. 29 April 1958 C.G.D. gave the Rede Rayleigh, Presentation of Addresses Lecture in the Senate-House on ‘The from Universities, Academies and Little did I know, as I put together Problems of World Population’. Learned Societies in the Senate- this material linking Fisher with the Some of us research students from House, and the Rede Lecture by the Darwins and the Darwins with the the Department of Genetics (from President of the Royal Society. More Eugenics Society for the Caius exhibi- which Fisher had retired six months in keeping with the times, in 2009 a tion and a 2009 Darwin bicentenary previously, but was still around) went ‘Darwin Festival’ was held, with a lecture in Bristol, that Tom Blaney to hear the lecture. I recall that we host of well-known Darwinian speak- was making the very same connec- were not very impressed, but perhaps ers from David Attenborough to tions. His inspiration came through we just did not like a physicist tres- Richard Dawkins. But Gonville and having been a scientist at the Nation- passing on our territory. al Physical Laboratory which Charles Caius College had something special Of fourth-generation Darwins Tom Galton Darwin – Sir Charles, the to celebrate, and with the coopera- might have noticed Milo Keynes, tion of the Department of Genetics a ‘Chief Sea Lion’ – had headed from 1938 to 1949, and then through tak- third son of Geoffrey Keynes and small exhibition was held to mark the Margaret, C.G.D.’s and Leonard’s centenary of the matriculation of ing an Open University course Good Breeding and discovering the same sister, who died early in 2009 after R.A.Fisher. Thus began the academic many year’s sterling work for the Eu- life of the man whom Dawkins in The Sir Charles’s involvement in eugen- ics. And the involvement of the other genics Society and its successor the Blind Watchmaker was to call ‘The Galton Institute, especially in organ- Darwins too. The course’s Study greatest of [Darwin’s] successors’, ising excellent meetings and editing Guide by James Moore (which he had who was befriended and encouraged or co-editing the resulting books. by Leonard Darwin (‘surely the kind- been kind enough to give me) is a est and wisest man I ever knew’), brilliant introduction to the field, but Tom has written a lively, informa- who corresponded with George Dar- the course itself is, alas, no more. tive, accurate, readable and much- win’s son Charles Galton Darwin, one Tom’s well-written book is exactly needed book. Congratulations! of the reviewers of Fisher’s Darwini- what was needed. Whilst centred on an magnum opus The Genetical The- C.G.Darwin and his uncle Lenny ory of Natural Selection. Two years (Leonard), it is amongst other things Anthony Edwards, Fellow of Gon- later – just a century ago now – Fish- a first-rate introduction to the whole ville and Caius College Cambridge, er and his friend C.S.Stock of Clare Darwin clan. The involvement of so was Professor of Biometry, and a stu- founded the Cambridge University many of them with the British eugen- dent of R.A.Fisher’s. His 2009 Bristol Eugenics Society. Horace Darwin was ics movement (not to be confused lecture ‘Mathematizing Darwin’ is on the Council and Francis and with the continental or American published in Behavioral Ecology and George members. So were varieties) is sympathetically de- Sociobiology 65, 421–430 (2011).

SUMMER 2013 8 GALTON INSTITUTE NEWSLETTER