Biology CASE Seminar on “The Red Queen Effect”

 – by Inana Aleismy, Year 12 William Perkin CofE High School

On Thursday 26th September, around 25 Year 12 Biologists came together for a very interesting seminar led by Mr. Robarts, on evolutionary biology.

We covered the Red Queen effect, which derives its name from the famous quote from the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, “it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place”. It states that no matter how a species evolves, other species (like predators, parasites, competitors or prey) are also evolving at a similar rate. This counteracts the effect of the advantageous trait the first species has evolved in the first place. It also was fascinating to discuss how the Red Queen effect kept food chains balanced, ensuring neither one species nor the other become over or underpopulated.

Something new I learned was the idea of "the selfish gene" and how it manifests in pregnancy. Since half a foetus' DNA comes from its mother and the other half from its father, the fathers' genes push the foetus to take more nutrients from its mother, while the mother's genes counteract this. It was particularly fascinating to hear about the necessity of both sets of genes for the foetus' survival; if only the father's genes affected the baby's nutrient intake, it would grow unsustainably and both the mother and the foetus would die. However, if only the mother's genes affected the foetus nutrient intake, it wouldn't receive enough nutrients to grow into a healthy baby.

In conclusion, the seminar was an enjoyable way to give us a taste of university-style discussions, explore a new area of Biology and get to know each other. Thank you Mr. Robarts!