PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsReviewsTV Review: Horizon - What Makes Us Human?

BioNews

TV Review: Horizon - What Makes Us Human?

Published 29 July 2013 posted in Reviews and appears in BioNews 714

Author

Simon Hazelwood-Smith

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.

Perhaps we are not so different from chimps? Not so, Professor Roberts says; it is us who are experimenting on them, putting them in enclosures and making TV programmes about them...


Horizon: What Makes Us Human?

BBC2, Wednesday 3 July 2013

Presented by Professor Alice Roberts

'Horizon: What Makes Us Human?', BBC2, Wednesday 3 July 2013


What is it that
separates us from the rest of the apes? This is the question that Professor
Alice Roberts
 seeks to answer in her programme 'What Makes Us Human?'

The
story starts with a visit to the Max Planck Zoo in Leipzig, home to many of our
closest primate relatives including bonobos, chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas. We are told of the remarkable
similarities between us apes; the familiar statistic that we share 99 percent
of our DNA with bonobos gets a run-out. We learn about their impressive lateral
thinking abilities - cue shots of chimps using water to raise the level of a
peanut in a tube and working together to
receive mutual gains (bananas).

Perhaps we are not so different then? Not so, Professor
Roberts says; it is us who are experimenting on them, putting them in enclosures
and making TV programmes about them.

The first analysis of
our differences is from Dr Michael Tomasello who explains that rather than
considering humans as the most intelligent species, we should think of
intelligence as having various facets that different species possess. For
example chimpanzees have excellent spatial awareness and quickly grasp causal
relations. However it is the human
culture of learning and sharing knowledge that makes our intelligence so
powerful and contributes to making us unique.

At this point the
programme loses a little focus. Professor
Roberts was pregnant during filming and so there is an overly long introduction
to the next difference: birth and our
offspring. Roberts explains that human babies
are 'a little bit useless' and vulnerable, especially compared to other primate
infants. This has long been explained to biology students (including me) with
the obstetric dilemma concept. The basic idea here is that as a result of
human bipedalism there is a maximum width that a woman's hips can be for
efficient walking. However this limits the size of the birth canal and as a
result a trade-off occurs with the size a baby's head can grow to by birth.

Challenging this idea
is Dr Holly Dunsworth whose research has shown that there is no restriction
on hip widths for efficient walking. Her team have found that the metabolic
rate of a pregnant woman is rather what causes birth to occur 'early'. A baby
is born at the point at which the mother's metabolic rate can go no higher and
so cannot allow for the baby to grow any larger.

The programme then
moves on to look at the complexities of the human brain. Humans have far more
neuronal connections than any other primates. To investigate further, Roberts
visits the geneticist Professor Franck Polleux. There is a rather tedious introduction
to the size of the human genome, before we find out about Professor Polleux's research.
The gene SRGAP2 is particularly involved
in forming neuronal connections and is present in all primates. Humans, though,
have four copies. It is this change that allows human brains to become so
complex, and again, is partially what makes us human.

Measuring this
connectivity requires a huge amount of effort. We meet neuroscientist Professor Jeff
Lichtman
of Harvard University. It is his aim to build a 3D map of neuronal
connections by imaging incredibly thin slices of brain and joining them
together using sophisticated computer software. Unfortunately this technology
is in its infancy and so the analysis focuses on statistics of the enormity of
the project.

The programme finishes
with Roberts again returning to her own pregnancy, and the changes that her baby
will go through to become a unique human adult.

Roberts is a fantastic
presenter, and it is clear to see that she is genuinely fascinated by the
topics raised. However there was too much superficial analysis, almost all of
it using ideas that have been knocking around in (or not far from) the public
consciousness for decades. The evidence for the only controversial idea, that
the obstetric dilemma is wrong, was a little unconvincing. Finally, some key features
such as our bipedalism were only briefly referenced or, in the case of human
language, completely overlooked.

With its hour-long running time, this show
could have covered a lot more ground without being overwhelming. Roberts' own pregnancy also features more than
is really necessary. Did we need such a blatant grab for the 'human angle' in a
programme on anthropology?

Related Articles

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
2 March 2015 • 3 minutes read

Unique human brain gene discovered

by Meghna Kataria

One of the genes behind the dramatic evolutionary enlargement of the human brain has been identified. By greatly increasing the number of cells in important brain regions, the gene in question might have helped humans develop cognitive abilities unrivalled in the animal kingdom...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Reviews
1 December 2014 • 2 minutes read

Event Review: Arrival of the Fittest

by Arit Udoh

Precisely how adaptation and innovation fits into the process of natural selection remains a mystery. Evolutionary biologist Andreas Wagner thinks he's cracked the puzzle and tried to get us to agree at this Royal Institution lecture...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Reviews
14 April 2014 • 3 minutes read

TV Review: Dead Famous DNA

by Chee Hoe Low

Although this show jumped to conclusions about what the DNA of famous people could tell us, its ridiculous premise was amusing enough to keep viewers entertained...

PET BioNews
Reviews
23 September 2013 • 3 minutes read

TV Review: Science Britannica - Frankenstein's Monsters

by Clara Salice

In this first episode of his new series, Cox 'grapples with science's darker side, asking why it often gets such a bad press'...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Reviews
27 August 2013 • 3 minutes read

TV Review: Dara O'Briain's Science Club - Adventures in Time

by Dr Amina Aitsi-Selmi

Dara O'Briain's Science Club explores time from many different angles, looking at diverse areas from aerodynamic engineering to tissue engineering...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
14 June 2013 • 2 minutes read

Men 'caused menopause' by seeking younger women

by Dr Lucy Spain

Men's preference for younger partners has led to the development of the menopause in women, according to a recently published theory in PLOS Computational Biology....

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
Reviews
15 April 2013 • 4 minutes read

Radio Review: DNA 60 Years On

by George Frodsham

DNA 60 Years On does an excellent job of highlighting the transformation of DNA from an obscure molecule to a symbol of our identity and individuality and the role it has come to play in our lives...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
13 December 2012 • 2 minutes read

Young genes in young humans provide clue to brain evolution

by James Brooks

Genes that other species do not possess may play a crucial role in making the human brain what it is. Until recently scientific consensus held that the different use of genes shared across most of the animal kingdom gave each species' brain its unique character. However this hypothesis may need some revision following a study led by Professor Manyuan Long of the University of Chicago...

Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the output from a DNA sequencing machine.
CC BY 4.0
Image by Peter Artymiuk via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts the shadow of a DNA double helix, on a background that shows the fluorescent banding of the sequencing output from an automated DNA sequencing machine.
News
19 November 2012 • 2 minutes read

Dumbing down: mutations make modern man mindless, says academic

by George Frodsham

Genetic mutations in thousands of genes that govern our intelligence are contributing to a 'dumbing down' of humanity, as claimed in a controversial new theory...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« Event Review: Motherhood All Change - Surrogacy Revisited

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Recent
27 June 2022 • 4 minutes read

Podcast Review: Genetics Unzipped – Have a heart, the science of xenotransplantation

20 June 2022 • 5 minutes read

Documentary Review: Our Father

20 June 2022 • 4 minutes read

Podcast Review: How Far Could Genome Editing Go?

13 June 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: Happy Mum Happy Baby – Tom Daley

13 June 2022 • 3 minutes read

Podcast Review: The Outlook – The shocking truth about my three dads

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856