Jack Scanlan

Jack Scanlan is a Master of Science student at the University of Melbourne researching insect detoxification genetics, a one-man over-thinking machine, and head editor of the Young Australian Skeptics. Once the LGBT movement succeeds in "destroying" the sacred institution of marriage, he plans on wedding the concept of science.

His research interests include molecular genetics, protein biochemistry and evolutionary biology, and the many ways that they can fit together. This includes things like metabolic evolution (the evolution of making and breaking small molecules), protein family evolution (how and why there are so many different types of proteins), regulatory evolution (how regulation of gene expression evolves), endosymbiosis (organisms, usually bacteria, living inside the cells of other organisms), insects (especially aphids, flies, ants and wasps), and the taxonomic domain of Archaea (extremeophiles represent!); this is not an exhaustive list. Jack admires biologists who study humans, but falls asleep when he thinks too long about medicine, anatomy or immunology.

Fiercely passionate about the interaction of science, skepticism, philosophy, religion, media and society, Jack loves to communicate and develop ideas in any way he possibly can. In his non-science-based spare time, he's partial to pretentious indie music, amateur audio production, clever comedy, iconic British sci-fi, and American political fantasy shows set on and around the fictional continent of Westeros.

When he's not dictatorially overseeing the Young Australian Skeptics or producing/editing its podcast, The Pseudoscientists, Jack blogs for The Panda's Thumb and Nature Education's Student Voices, and has written for COSMOS Magazine Online as a freelancer. He writes about intelligent design, evolutionary biology and nonsense at Homologous Legs, his personal blog.

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