The human body is an amazing machine, equipped to take in fuel and oxygen, convert it into an energy currency, and spend this in cells throughout the body to keep us alive. We can survive severe shortages of oxygen, food and water, and cope with extreme heat and cold. We can run fast when we have to, and can keep going for amazing distances.

But are we all the same? Faced with the same perils, would we all cope just as well? And if not, is it down to luck? To being tough? Or is there such a thing as the will to live?

In this lecture, we’ll look at our genes – and how they make us different. How much of the way we are is ‘nature’ and how much ‘nurture’? Do our genes influence our chances of survival? Can they protect us from infections, or help us survive them? Can they allow us to run further and faster? Or even make us feel less (or more) pain?

Finally, we’ll talk to some amazing survivors, and find out how much of their survival was down to training and preparation, being tough, having the will to live, their genes…or to good old-fashioned luck.

Registration required:

Yes

Free:

No