I don't know whether it is important to study science at a young age, though current thinking emphasises the need.

Our aggression is a deep instinct which survives in all kinds of manifestations in modern man.

Over the past 20 years, I have presented many science programmes on BBC1. But none is, I think, more socially important, or of more human interest, than this ongoing series of 'Child of Our Time.'

It is important that legislation keeps pace with scientific progress.

There were never any doctors in my family. But my grandparents and my mother had a strong social conscience that was formative.

Medicine, which I wouldn't be without, has also been a force for... less good. For example, if you look at our mishandling of the immune system, using antibiotics in children and avoiding infection, we've certainly increased the risk of asthma.

When I grew up, we didn't have a TV, and I think more families today have ambitions of getting out of their environment, such as sending their children to university.