Making sense of evolutionary genetics

• Sunday 23 November
• 7.00pm
• St John's Church Room, Waterbeach, CB25 9HT
• With Dr Zachary Ardern

Evolutionary genetics is revealing details of the history of life in new detail, including the common ancestry of diverse life forms. We seem to be discovering the mechanisms behind the creation of life's diversity. Has evolution fundamentally transformed how we should think about life? Has this kind of research helped to remove the need to appeal to God as an explanation? Is there still reason to take seriously the claim that God is the creator of our universe and of life? Zachary will give an overview of the history, methods, and findings of evolutionary genetics and a Christian perspective on some of the questions it raises. 

Zachary Ardern is a researcher in microbial evolutionary genetics based in Cambridge, investigating the origins and evolution of protein-coding genes across the history of life on Earth. He has undergraduate degrees in philosophy, economics, and biology, and a PhD in microbial evolution from the University of Auckland, NZ. Zachary is a Fellow of the International Society of Science and Religion and speaks regularly on science and Christian faith.