It is difficult for us to really appreciate the time scale of human development, let alone the beginnings of life itself on earth. Professor Jack Woolley, from the University's Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, will be giving the lecture entitled One Million Years B.C. in the Trinity House Chapel, The Newarke, Leicester, on Wednesday 29 November. The lecture will begin at 12.45pm and members of the public are welcome. In Darwinian terms this mostly relates to the development of a physical advantage in a few individuals which establishes their superiority. Unseen, however, is the chemical counter-play between individuals of the same species, and the interspecific 'chemical warfare' that takes place on the planet.
Chemical evolution is important.
Organisms protect themselves by using sophisticated chemistry to gain an advantage. By studying these interactions and carefully learning from nature, we can hope to control undesirable events such as crop destruction by pests and diseases in animals, including man. For the past eight years he has been a committee member of the Phytochemical Society of Europe and is at present its Treasurer. His present interests include biosynthesis, molecular biology and plant tissue culture.