Abstract
This first lecture was an introduction to the subject of epigenetics, the environment and biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms and interactions. It describes the degree of variety in an ecosystem, in terms of resources and species, as well as genetics and epigenetics. It is also a measure of the health of any ecosystem, of the planet. Each organism is part of an ecosystem (biome) and depends on other organisms and the physical environment. The more diverse an ecosystem, the more resources it has to help it recover from famine, drought, disease and species extinction. Biodiversity exists within ecosystems, between species and within species. A species is made up of individuals. With the exception of twins or clones, each of these individuals has its own unique combination of gene variants (alleles). Therefore, if half of the individuals of each species are destroyed, the number of species will not change, but 50 % of the genetic diversity of each species will be lost. This has consequences for survival and adaptation.
