Alice Roberts conference | The embryo to study the origins of humanity

What if, to retrace the origins of humanity, it was enough to study the embryos? This is one of the tracks put forward by British scientist Alice Roberts, who is in Montreal this Sunday to talk about the miracle of evolution and humanity.

Alice Roberts was pregnant with her second child when she had an epiphany: pregnancy accompaniment books hardly speak of the first two months. “Now, this is the moment when there is the most important transition,” she said, from the United Kingdom. We go from a few cells to an embryo that we recognize as human. »»

This moment inspired him a philosophical reflection which led him to expand his already important expertise of specialist in the archeology of bones. “I have always been interested in the burials could tell us about society and the human relations of the past. We can go up centuries, even millennia, a real journey back in time. But with this reflection on the links between embryology and evolution, we come back from hundreds of millions of years, even billions of years before our era. »»

The initial development of the embryo implies chemical processes that connect us to all organizations on the planet. “We can go back to our alleged common ancestor, more than four billion years ago. We have biochemical processes in our cells similar to those of plants. Then, genetic mutations led to animals, mammals, monkeys. »»

A trip of four billion years in nine months, in a way.

This achievement is at the heart of a new discipline, “evolutionary biology of development”, or “evo devou”. “The idea is to study evolution by comparing anatomy and physiology of different species, rather than fossils,” says the D^re Roberts. We find our distant ancestors in us, it’s stunning. »»

In his conference, the D^re Roberts adds an explanation of the evolution of the universe.

Humanism

The idea of ​​a link between humans and plants can recall pantheism, the idea that nature is divine, or even indigenous spiritualities. Or again, we can conclude that the infinitely small – the cell – can breathe a mystical feeling similar to that which some feel while contemplating the starry vault at night.

“It is wonderful to think about the origin of human consciousness, to marvel at the thought that allowed us to understand all of this,” says the D^re Roberts.

She makes a link with her humanist faith. It is a faith centered on the human being, which was popularized by British and American Protestant and American churches having concluded that God did not necessarily exist. It derives from atheistic philosophies of the French Revolution and the sociologist Auguste Comte.

“Humanism is not only a rational approach, but also brings the idea that humans are achieved by interacting with the natural world,” says the 51 -year -old scientist. It is an ethics not only human, but which concerns all the living. »»

From medicine to the star

Daughter of an engineer and a teacher, Alice Roberts studied medicine. “I was fascinated by the comparative anatomy,” says the D^re Roberts. Her thesis focused on the pathologies of the shoulder in humans and monkey, and she taught paleopathology in different universities, leading between 2009 and 2016 the department of anatomy of a Welsh medical school.

It was recommended in 2001 as an bone expert for an archaeological program. His performance interested the BBC which, from 2009, regularly put it at the center of scientific documentaries on evolution, human migrations, dinosaurs, Celts and other archaeological subjects.

Neanderthal

What is the discovery that marked her the most, in his work? “Personally, I did not discover anything who made the headlines Nature. But I was present at several advances. The one who suffered me the most is the idea that the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens have formed families together several times over the millennia, in different places. It is a meeting that was very difficult to imagine. »»

Comment Homo sapiens Did he understand the radical otherness of the Neanderthal man, much less evolved? “I think we will probably never know. Although if I had been told 20 years ago that we could do the genome of people who have died for millennia, I would have thought it was a utopia. That said, do not idealize the meeting between Homo sapiens and Neanderthal. It may be done in violence. »»

The crypt

The D^re Roberts begins his Canadian tour in Montreal while his latest book, The Cryptwas published in England. It is a series of “osteobiographies” of people who have died for hundreds of years, based on what can be understood by their bones. The book is the continuation of Buriedwhich focused on funeral rites.

“For example, we learned that in Bronze Age England, it was men and not women who changed their village when they married. It probably means that women inherited, rather than men. The Romans, when they invaded England, have just mentioned powerful Celtic queens, Boadicae and Cartimandua. »»

Another conclusion of osteobiography is that sugar has had a beef effect on European societies. “In the Middle Ages, people had good teeth. But from the XVI^e A century, we started to see completely rotten teeth at the beginning of adulthood. It is because of sugar. »»

Cancer and obesity

What will osteobiographers say of the future of our bones? “They will see the vertiginous increase in life expectancy in the XX^e century, with medicine and the fight against infant infections. Before, it was not uncommon for half of a woman’s children to do not reach adulthood. Now it happens very often, even in developing countries. »»

Corollary of this progress, today’s bones will also reveal to researchers in the future the increase in the frequency of cancer, a disease linked to aging. “And seeing the quantity of people who suffer from osteoarthritis of the knee, they will be able to deduce that there was much more obesity than before. »»Consult the Alice Roberts conference website at Olympia