Recent book:
Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era:
Human Behaviour, Law and Society
Available on Amazon, Palgrave, Blackwell’s and other sellers; as well as from many libraries such as that of Goldsmiths, University of London; and New York University.
This book explores the answers to fundamental questions about the human mind and human behaviour with the help of two ancient texts. The first is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus Tyrannus) by Sophocles, written in the 5th century BCE. The second is human DNA, with its origins around 4 billion years ago, and continuously revised by chance and evolution. With Sophocles as a guide, the authors take a journey into the Genomic era, an age marked by ever-expanding insights into the human genome. Over the course of this journey, the book explores themes of free will, fate, and chance; prediction, misinterpretation, and the burden that comes with knowledge of the future; self-fulfilling and self-defeating prophecies; the forces that contribute to similarities and differences among people; roots and lineage; and the judgement of oneself and others. Using Oedipus Rex as its lens, this novel work provides an engaging overview of behavioural genetics that demonstrates its relevance across the humanities and the social and life sciences. It will appeal in particular to students and scholars of genetics, education, psychology, sociology, and law.
Talks on the book
American Institute For Foreign Study (AIFS)
Free will in the Genomic Era
By Fatos Selita, May 2022
Covered: What the latest scientific findings from genetics and others sciences mean for our view on ‘Free Will’. How, over centuries, societies have applied the having and not having free will in different contexts, including justice; and how can we implement the ‘new’ truth on free will across life aspects.
Karolinska Institutet.
What is Life? Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era
By Professor Yulia Kovas, January 2022
Part of ‘What is Life’ series
Video of the talk
Science Festival, Göteborg
Living in the Genomics Era: a Journey into the Unknown
By Professor Yulia Kovas, May 2022
Part of the Science Festival. Read more…
Max Planck Institute
Oedipus Rex in the Genomic Era
By Professor Yulia Kovas, May 2022
