How did we become the planet-altering ape? | Pascal Gagneux | TEDxUCSanDiego

Humans are the “planet-altering ape”. Our expansion across the globe, technological prowess, and booming populations are causing the sixth mass extinction and threaten to hasten our own. In this talk, UC San Diego professor, Dr. Pascal Gagneux, reminds us that we humans have evolved distinct capabilities: we cooperate at massive scales, we communicate with language, we are imaginative, and self-aware. Can we rely on our uniquely evolved features for solving these existential challenges? Pascal Gagneux is a Professor of Pathology and Anthropology at UC San Diego and serves as the Executive Co-Director at the Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA). The Gagneux laboratory studies cell-surface molecules in closely related primates species and how glycan evolution is shaped by constraints from endogenous biochemistry and exogenous, pathogen-mediated natural selection, but can also have consequences for sexual selection. Dr. Gagneux has studied the behavioral ecology of wild chimpanzees in the Taï Forest, Ivory Coast, and population genetics of West African chimpanzees.

In 2011, while Associate Director of CARTA, Dr. Gagneux helped to establish a graduate specialization in Anthropogeny at UC San Diego. This wholly unique graduate specialization is offered through eight participating graduate programs in the social and natural sciences at UC San Diego. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx