| Personal background |
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Hi all, I'm presently studying for my PhD at the MRC Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, which I started in September 2002. The genes which control cell division and development for reproduction are my primary area of research. I'm also very interested in how genes are switched on and off in a precise time- and space- dependent manner to allow the correct development of organs and tissues to produce the mature organism - from which it all starts over again. Before moving to Edinburgh I graduated with a BSc in Genetics from University College London (UCL).
Paeleontolgy and exobiology (the study of organisms living in extreme habitats on Earth and the application of this to the investigation of extraterrestrial life) have been two side interests of mine since childhood - as has the exploration of space as a whole. From a geneticist's point of view the prospect of life elsewhere is intriguing. All life on Earth (with the exception of some viruses) uses DNA as the genetic material, and this universality of DNA can be used to calculate the relatedness of two species. It will be fascinating to see if this universal use of DNA as the genetic material is maintained elsewhere in the cosmos. If it is, comparisons between terrestrial and extraterrestrial sequences may finally answer the question of our earliest origins. |
| Thoughts about SETI and SETI@home |
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As a biologist who subscribes very strongly to the theory of Darwinian evolution, I think the chances of life NOT existing elsewhere in the cosmos are spectacularly low, perhaps moreso now humanity is finding planetary solar systems left, right and centre. However, given the vast distances across which signals from us or other civilisations must travel I think it unlikely that contact will be made through EM transmissions alone. Our ideas of what intelligent life forms elsewhere will be like, presume that they too will have an interest and curiosity as to what lies beyond the boundaries of the atmospheres of their planets, and any such civilisation which does not fall into this category will be missed by such efforts.
I am much more confident, however, that the discovery of lesser life forms is only a matter of years away, and that funding should be poured into programs to investigate more closely the biospheres (if they exist) of Mars, Europa and Titan. Finding and characterising such life forms will give us new insight into our own origins, and give some idea as to the liklihood of finding life elsewhere in the cosmos. If it is as abundant as being present on three or more bodies within one solar system, and has arisen separately or even been transported and reseeded between them, then that is without doubt a very promising omen for the discovery and abundance of life outside our own solar system.
As someone who has been fascinated by the concept of beings on other worlds since early childhood, the opportunity to participate in a program to help discover them is a great honour. The discovery of intelligent life elsewhere would I think reinforce to everyone on Earth how (looking from the outside at least) little our differences are and mean compared to what we have in common, and if the SETI program can in some way help to communicate that, then it is indeed a worthwhile project. |
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