Leigh Martinuzzi

The Tangled Tree with David Quammen In this interview, I speak with David Quammen about his newest book The Tangled Tree. David lives a fascinating life travelling the world as a journalist and author - his interests lay in the fields of science, history and evolution. In The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life David uncovers how molecular biology and how it can change our understanding of evolution and life's history. The crux of this discussion is Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT) - the movement of genes across species lines. It challenges Darwinism and the traditional view that genes are passed along via heridity and instead can move sideways through viral infection. At times it's all a little over my head but certainly taught me a thing or two about molecular science and sure did get me thinking. I hope you enjoy my conversation with David Quammen.