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UFS Book Launch Invitation - 2024 State of Nation: Quality of Life and Wellbeing

23 May 2024

The Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Prof Francis Petersen, invites you to attend the upcoming book launch of State of the Nation: Quality of Life and Wellbeing.

Celebrating its 20^th year of existence, this HSRC flagship publication serves as an invaluable, independent scholarly resource offering insights into the current state of South Africa. The theme of the 2024 edition, Quality of Life and Wellbeing, underscores the commitment to understanding and addressing critical societal issues. Edited by Profs Vasu Reddy, Narnia Bohler-Muller, Zitha Mokomane, and Crain Soudien, this edition builds on the preceding editions, focusing on HSRC priorities of poverty and inequality in novel and relevant ways.

During the launch, UFS scholars and editors will hold an interactive session and panel discussion; we look forward to your participation, which will help to enrich the conversations.

Date: Thursday 13 June 2024

Time: 15:00 to 16:30 (guests required to be seated by 14:45)

Venue: Equitas Auditorium, Bloemfontein Campus

RSVP: https://ufsweb.co/3QGWpXY before 10 June 2024

Contact: For more information, please contact Pienaaran1@ufs.ac.za

ONLY MS Teams for Qwaqwa and South Campus staff (upon request to the RSVP address)

Books available for purchase at the event venue. Card payments will only be accepted.

News Archive

Darwin lecture focuses on the genetic foundation of evolution

2009-05-22

The Department of Genetics at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently made their contribution to the story of life and survival by presenting two lectures on The genetic foundation of evolution. Prof. Johan Spies, Head of the Department of Genetics at the UFS discussed the variation that was created by mutations and how this variation was enhanced by re-combination. He also pointed out that these methods contributed relatively little to the gene pool of a species and that the expansion of the gene pool primarily took place by means of chromosome evolution. The latter also contributed to the creation of isolation mechanisms to prevent hybridism. He further emphasised the multitude of deviations of mendelian heredity, which contributed to more variation within a species.

Prof. Paul Grobler, Associate Professor from this department, next pointed out how natural selection played a role to form new species. He used various examples to indicate how the process took its course, for example, lactose intolerance. He also reported out that the man on the street mostly believed that Darwin with his theory of the survival of the fittest meant that the physically strongest species would survive. It was more a case of the one that could reproduce the fastest and the most, that would survive, he stated.

Present at the occasion were, from left front: Ms Letecia Jonker, student, Prof. Grobler, Ms Paula Spies, lecturer at the Department of Genetics and Ms Zurika Odendaal, junior lecturer at the Department of Genetics; back: Prof. Spies.
Photo: Stephen Collett

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