a story lives forever
Register
Sign in
Form submission failed!

Stay signed in

Recover your password?
Register
Form submission failed!

Web of Stories Ltd would like to keep you informed about our products and services.

Please tick here if you would like us to keep you informed about our products and services.

I have read and accepted the Terms & Conditions.

Please note: Your email and any private information provided at registration will not be passed on to other individuals or organisations without your specific approval.

Video URL

You must be registered to use this feature. Sign in or register.

NEXT STORY

The Weizmann Institute

RELATED STORIES

The role of the zoo
Avrion Mitchison Scientist
Comments (0) Please sign in or register to add comments
I think it is a deeply loved part of London life, I think there are children, like me, who are attracted into biology in part because we went to- were taken to the zoo as children, and I think that is its job- is to present animals- the diversity of animals, to the public. Alas, it doesn't happen like it did in the old days when you could take animals out of their cages and you could feed them and even in the case of Lorna with my tiny little children- the tapir was sort of behind a stockade and you could feed it, but it was very- it was covered with saliva, so first she wiped the noses of her little children and then she wiped the nose of the tapir. You can't do that any more. So it had a- a- wonderful past which isn't there any more, but it is carrying on as a showcase for biodiversity. It also makes a case for itself as actually preserving biodiversity and I am in favour of that up to a point, although I am afraid of the- of the thousands of species which it used to curate, many of whom were humble insects. the- the attention of the public is limited to a small number of mammals with beautiful brown eyes like ours- like our own, who are sort of child friendly.

Avrion Mitchison, the British zoologist, is currently Professor Emeritus at University College London and is best known for his work demonstrating the role of lymphocytes in tumour rejection and for the separate and cooperative roles of T- and B-lymphocytes in this and other processes.

Listeners: Martin Raff

Martin Raff is a Canadian-born neurologist and research biologist who has made important contributions to immunology and cell development. He has a special interest in apoptosis, the phenomenon of cell death.

 

 


Listen to Martin Raff at Web of Stories

 

 

Duration: 1 minute, 48 seconds

Date story recorded: June 2004

Date story went live: 24 January 2008