There is an interview with John Maynard Smith in the current issue of New Scientist (14 June). Among other things, he says:
“Eugenics is a dirty word, but I don’t think it should be. I think we are going to have to think quite seriously about it. The words ‘eugenics’ and ‘fascism’ are regarded as almost synonymous and I think that’s just plain silly”.
He also reveals that he has ‘just finished’ writing a book on the evolution of animal signals. But he says he is currently ‘working on tuberculosis. There are a number of problems that arise from the evolution of antibiotic resistance’.
He also thinks the most exciting issues in evolutionary biology concern the theory of development. He believes there is now enough detailed information on developmental processes to begin work on a theory of the genetic regulation of development, by analogy with computer programming. ‘It’s tremendously exciting! If I were 40 years younger, this is what I would be doing.’
John Maynard Smith is 83.
DAVID BURBRIDGE
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