Athena Aktipis

Evolutionary biologist and psychologist Professor Athena Aktipis says evolution and cancer are closely linked and this understanding can help us to come up with more effective and revolutionary treatments.

Aktipis says cancer was created by the same evolutionary processes as those that created life. She describes how ‘cheating cells’ arose that overused resources and replicated out of control, causing cancer. Evolution means cancer will always exist, but she argues that an understanding of the evolutionary process opens the possibility of new treatments. By looking at other species we are discovering new ways to suppress tumours and discovering ways life forms have evolved to keep cancer under control.

Aktipis is associate professor in the Department of Psychology and at the Arizona Cancer Evolution Center at Arizona State University and cofounder of the International Society for Evolution, Ecology and Cancer.

This event is part of the festival’s programme of American literature and culture.