Armand Marie Leroi was born in New Zealand, grew up in South Africa and Canada, but is a Dutch citizen. After studying in the USA – California and New York – he moved to London, England where he is currently Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Biology at Imperial College London, one of the UK’s top universities. There, he and his team study the nematode worm C. elegans. Using sophisticated molecular and computational tools, they are currently trying to discover a metabolic recipe to delay ageing in worms – and perhaps humans too.

Leroi’s first book, Mutants, was published in 2003 to critical acclaim and has been translated into 8 languages. A frequent commentator in print, and on radio and television, he has also written and hosted several documentary series about genetics and evolution for Channel 4 (UK), National Geographic and the BBC.