Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was generations ahead of his time, courting controversy, bequeathing to us the theory of evolution and shifting the zeitgeist of modern science.
His "survival of the fittest" and "law of the jungle" are phrases so commonplace today that even young children would have some idea of their meaning.
However, according to The Guardian, there are holes in Darwinian biology. A prime example: The "tree of life" he drew in his famous notebooks.
New research suggests this concept could actually be wrong.
The tree of life portrayed how species are interlinked, and what the whole exercise meant to show was that natural selection is the engine of evolution.
The latest experiments by geneticists show otherwise.
According to them, it is not a tree-like structure but rather a sort of thicket, and the inter-relatedness of life has been compared to a tangled bank.
The fact of the matter is that it is impenetrable.
Darwin as a child used to explore the greenery surrounding his house for fossils and plant/animal species. That was when his curiosity was piqued.
As an adult, he decided to travel aboard the ship that led him round the world, and his discoveries formed the basis of the grand concept of evolution.
The fact that all living beings are related to each other has been applied to other fields such as linguistics and physiology. It is completely revolutionary.
However, even Darwin has come under criticism.
There is the obvious fact of crossbreeding which has come up as a stumbling block in the way. Tests show that many species swap genetic material.
These anomalies range from the microscopic to the macroscopic, and perhaps the most interesting thing is their offspring are sometimes fertile.
At least 10 percent of animals can engage in hybridization, which makes the tree of life - while applicable in some ways - less potent than beleived.
It was an over-simplified version of biological determinism, while more complex models are needed today which lend credence to newer realities.
This is not to discredit the man's remarkable achievements, but rather a rational step in using technology to build upon them in the name of science.
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