VOLUME 70 NO 4 Winter 2023 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF BIOLOGY 1 Naoroji Street, London WC1X 0GB Tel: 020 3925 3440 info@rsb.org.uk; rsb.org.uk EDITORIAL STAFF Editor Tom Ireland MRSB, tom.ireland@rsb.org.uk Book reviews and branches editor Rachel Duffield, rachel.duffield@rsb.org.uk Chair of the Editorial Board Professor Dan Davis FRSB, Imperial College London Editorial Board Professor Matthew Cobb FRSB, The University of Manchester Dr Anthony Flemming FRSB, Syngenta Dr Sarah Maddocks CBiol MRSB, Cardiff Met University Dr Esther Odenkule MRSB, GSK Professor Shaun D Pattinson FRSB, Durham University Dr James Poulter MRSB, University of Leeds Professor Diane Purchase FRSB, Middlesex University Dr Natasha de Vere, National Botanical Garden of Wales Membership enquiries Tel: 020 3925 3441; membership@rsb.org.uk Subscription enquiries Tel: 020 3925 3464; info@rsb.org.uk The Biologist is produced on behalf of the Royal Society of Biology by Think Media Group, 65 Riding House Street London W1W 7EH thinkpublishing.co.uk; 020 3771 7200 Printed by Full Spectrum, Basildon Senior designer Juanita Adu Production editor Sian Campbell Sub editor Kirsty Fortune Group account director John Innes, john.innes@thinkpublishing.co.uk ISSN 0006-3347 Advertising in The Biologist represents an unparalleled opportunity to reach a large community of professional biologists. For advertising information contact tom.ireland@rsb.org.uk; 020 3925 3464 Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or the Royal Society of Biology. © 2023 Royal Society of Biology (Registered charity no. 277981) The Society permits single copying of individual articles for private study or research, irrespective of where the copying is done. Multiple copying of individual articles for teaching purposes is also permitted without specific permission. For copying or reproduction for any other purpose, written permission must be sought from the Society. Exceptions to the above are those institutions and non-publishing organisations that have an agreement or licence with the UK Copyright Licensing Agency or the US Copyright Clearance Center. Access to the magazine is available online; please see thebiologist.rsb.org.uk for more details. Cover image: Shutterstock Photo Stock lamy Pre ss/A Rawat; Abaca in ; Sach Shutterstock ON THE COVER 12 Customs of killer whales The incredible diversity of orca learned behaviour, including a pod that collaborated with whalers Contents 16 The price of procreation Is ageing the evolutionary cost of breeding or are other factors at play? 20 Not Just for the Boys Dame Athene Donald on her new book and the science gender gap 28 Understanding the ‘where’ How spatial omics is helping locate patterns of gene expression in tissue CONNECT WITH US Have an idea for an article or interested in writing for us? tom.ireland@rsb.org.uk facebook.com/ RoyalSocBio thebiologist.rsb.org.uk @RoyalSocBio www.youtube.com/ royalsocbio UP FRONT 04 Society news Biology Week 2023 and our photo and drawing award winners 08 Policy news and analysis UK approves gene-editing drug; RSB sets out climate strategy 10 Opinion The case for free will is growing, writes Kevin J Mitchell FEATURES 12 Orca ecotypes Why niche behavioural traits in killer whales contribute to both their success and vulnerability 16 Ironing out the wrinkles The evolutionary mechanisms that make ageing make sense 20 Interview Athene Donald talks role models and boosting girls from birth 24 Woodland wonder Engaging children with real climate change science 28 So very spatial How spatial omics techniques can help reveal key new details in early development 32 History and heredity The Adelphi Genetics Forum on its eugenics past and new drive to inform debate and discussion REGULARS 36 Members 40 Book reviews 44 Branches 47 Crossword 48 Amazing experiments Bob Paine’s intertidal interference Vol 70 No 4 / THE BIOLOGIST / 1