Kostas Kampourakis

Jacket design for new book The Man Who Broke Reality (US edition).

OK, I have a US jacket design now. I think it looks rather handsome.
The book is published in the autumn, in both the UK (Little Brown) and US (University of Chicago Press).

I will be co-editing a special issue titled "Teaching Evo-Devo: Concepts, Conceptions, and Pedagogies". If you are interested in contributing, check out the call for papers below. The submission deadline is 31 December 2026.

link.springer.com/collections/...

I will be co-editing a special issue titled "Teaching Evo-Devo: Concepts, Conceptions, and Pedagogies". If you are interested in contributing, check out the call for papers below. The submission deadline is 31 December 2026.

link.springer.com/collections/...

Published Tomorrow! (5th March)

New pub+project from Alan Love, @kampourakisk.bsky.social & Tobias Uller. “Improving scientific mentoring w/HPS.”
Paper available soon: @royalsocietypublishing.org journal #ProceedingsB buff.ly/XY0algj
Until then, check out buff.ly/8Jv3Osi & consider contributing
#HPS-mentoring-in-biology

The Cambridge Understanding Life series is for anyone wanting an engaging and concise introduction to a current biological topic. Offering multi-disciplinary perspectives, these accessible guides address stereotypes and common misunderstandings in a thoughtful way, with the aim of facilitating a more in-depth understanding. Written by leading thinkers in each field, these books are for anyone wanting an expert overview that will enable clearer thinking on each topic. General Editor: Kostas Kampourakis, University of Geneva

Sorry for this. What about this one: view.updates.cambridge.org?vawpToken=YY...

Understanding Life - Check it out!

view.updates.cambridge.org/?vawpToken=YYY…

Remote Greek culture has been a genetic ‘island’ for 4500 years New DNA analysis links Deep Maniots to Greece’s premedieval past

Here is the reference : www.science.org/content/arti...

Remote Greek culture has been a genetic ‘island’ for 4500 years New DNA analysis links Deep Maniots to Greece’s premedieval past

should be taken with a grain of salt. A larger sample could reveal genetic links between Deep Maniots and other populations that this data set is too small to detect. “This is an interesting study, but it does not prove any cultural or historical reality,” Gardner notes”

As simple as that…

And I of course agree with this : “Chelsea Gardner, an archeologist at Acadia University who was not involved in the new research, says the study’s relatively small sample size of Deep Maniot genetics—only 102 people with confirmed Maniot ancestry—means its findings of genetic isolation …

Well, as ever, exaggerated claims - perhaps confirmation bias? - overlooking that mtDNA and YDNA are a very minor portion of the genome. Or that ancient DNA samples are not yet sufficient, as I have explained here: kampourakis.com/ancestry-rei...

Uniparental analysis of Deep Maniot Greeks reveals genetic continuity from the pre-Medieval era - Communications Biology Deep Maniot Greeks preserve Y-DNA and mtDNA from Bronze-to-Roman Age Greece, largely untouched by later migrations. Genetics reveal historical demography, settlement patterns in southern Greece, and t...

“Remote Greek culture has been a genetic ‘island’ for 4500 years
New DNA analysis links Deep Maniots to Greece’s premedieval past” , a news post on Science referring to this study: www.nature.com/articles/s42...

Rethinking the Discovery of DNA About this episode: Francis Crick is best known as one of the figures behind the discovery of the double-helix structure of DNA, but the familiar story leaves out as much as it explains. Historian of...

I had a great time chatting about scientific discovery and the role of individuals, focusing on Francis Crick, on Michael Shermer’s Skeptic podcast. I look rather intense in the thumbnail; I promise it’s not quite so serious (and yes, I’m talking about the discovery of the double helix, not DNA).

Understanding the Nature‒Nurture Debate Cambridge Core - Genetics - Understanding the Nature‒Nurture Debate

I strongly recommend this book by @ent3c.bsky.social www.cambridge.org/core/books/u...

Congratulations!!!

You may then be interested in this book : kampourakis.com/how-we-get-m...

James D Watson: a cautionary tale There was always going to be a complex reckoning in the obituaries of James D Watson (1928–2025), the American geneticist who co-discovered the structure of DNA. For many years, Watson was one of the ...

I wrote an Opinion piece for @thelancet.com about James Watson. It's not an obituary - Georgina Ferry did that for them - but offers some thoughts on the problematic aspects of Watson's history.
www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

THE WONDER OF LIFE ON EARTH will be published in the UK on 5 Feb 2026. Editions are projected in German, Danish, Chinese, Korean, Bulgarian and Spanish (for Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay & Peru). www.panmacmillan.com/authors/henr...

When to trust scientific claims This is what we should be teaching in schools!

When to trust scientific claims (RFKj's ones included)

substack.com/@kostaskampo...

Here's a clip from my chat yesterday with @erictopol.bsky.social – this is about Crick's first encounter with the psychedelic poetry of Michael McClure, in 1959. For the full chat (it lasts an hour - you could just listen) go here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ns2c...

Matthew Cobb (@matthewcobb2) This was a terrific discussion with Eric about my new biography of Francis Crick.

Now live, and thanks to @erictopol.bsky.social for organising this!

When to trust scientific claims This is what we should be teaching in schools!

When to trust scientific claims (RFKj's ones included)

substack.com/@kostaskampo...

Is the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” an evidence-based claim? Absence of evidence vs. evidence of absence

Is the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” an evidence-based claim?
Absence of evidence vs. evidence of absence

open.substack.com/pub/kostaska...

The Creativity of Life: A Conversation with Naomi Moris, Part 1 YouTube video by Marginalia Review of Books

In the summer (you can tell by the shirt) I had a fabulous conversation about embryology and stem cells with @nmoris.bsky.social at the Crick Institute. Here's the first part of it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WB0...

Is the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” an evidence-based claim? Absence of evidence vs. evidence of absence

Is the claim “vaccines do not cause autism” an evidence-based claim?
Absence of evidence vs. evidence of absence

open.substack.com/pub/kostaska...

Is having an Irish parent the same with having Irish DNA? NO!!!! Establishing paternity through DNA does not entail anything about one's ethnicity

Is having an Irish parent the same with having Irish DNA?

open.substack.com/pub/kostaska...

Putting aside the deeper issues of why this analysis was done and how it has been promoted, the choice to broadcast a tv show before releasing a preprint should make people skeptical of the results. How can one be sure of their scientific claims?

The Building Blocks of Life Were Just the Beginning

A thoughtful review of CRICK - “vivid and authoritative” - in @nytimes.com.

Is having an Irish parent the same with having Irish DNA? NO!!!! Establishing paternity through DNA does not entail anything about one's ethnicity

Is having an Irish parent the same with having Irish DNA?

open.substack.com/pub/kostaska...

A nice coincidence! The Greek and the Turkish edition of my book Ancestry Reimagined are being published a few weeks apart. I hope the message is clear: we are all family, there are no pure ethnicities! Geographic neighbors are also close relatives, in relative terms.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...