#1248 Carles Lalueza-Fox - Identity: What DNA Can Tell Us About Ourselves

RECORDED ON APRIL 24th 2026.
Dr. Carles Lalueza-Fox is Director of the Natural Science Museum in Barcelona. He participated in the Neanderthal Genome Project and led the first retrieval of the genome of an 8,000-year-old European hunter-gatherer. His latest book is Identity: What DNA Can Tell Us About Ourselves.

In this episode, we focus on Identity. We talk about identity from the perspective of genetics. We discuss how much genetic variation and similarity we find across humans; identical twins and behavioral genetics; the genetics of look-alikes; sex determination, sexual development, and gender; kinship genetics; and the genetics of royals and endogamy. We also talk about the ideas of “pure” populations and “race”, racism, and the political misuse of genetics; and how there is so much human interconnectedness. Finally, we discuss the future of genetic identity.

Time Links:
00:00 Intro
00:33 Identity from the perspective of genetics
10:34 How much genetic variation and similarity do we find across humans?
21:51 Identical twins and behavioral genetics
28:00 Look-alikes
34:00 Sex determination, sexual development, and gender
40:33 Kinship genetics
48:44 The genetics of royals, and endogamy
52:47 “Pure” populations, racism, and the political misuse of genetics
58:58 Human interconnectedness
1:03:18 The future of genetic identity
1:05:55 Follow Dr. Lalueza-Fox’s work!

Follow Dr. Lalueza-Fox’s work:
Natural Science Museum in Barcelona: http://bit.ly/3wiKswW
ResearchGate profile: http://bit.ly/3GcU96h
Identity: https://tinyurl.com/52v9je8j