Spencer Wells

Spencer Wells is a leading population geneticist and director of the Genographic Project, a collaboration between National Geographic, IBM, and the Waitt Family Foundation. His fascination with the past has led the scientist, author, and documentary filmmaker to the farthest reaches of the globe in search of human populations who hold the history of humankind in their DNA. " The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey," an award-winning book and documentary, aired on PBS in the U.S. and National...See more

Spencer Wells is a leading population geneticist and director of the Genographic Project, a collaboration between National Geographic, IBM, and the Waitt Family Foundation. His fascination with the past has led the scientist, author, and documentary filmmaker to the farthest reaches of the globe in search of human populations who hold the history of humankind in their DNA. " The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey," an award-winning book and documentary, aired on PBS in the U.S. and National Geographic Channel internationally. Written and presented by Wells, the film chronicled his globe-circling, DNA-gathering expeditions in 2001-02 and laid the groundwork for the Genographic Project. His second book, "Deep Ancestry: Inside the Genographic Project," was published by National Geographic and has been one of NGBooks's best-selling science narratives. His third book, "Pandora's Seed," was published last year by Random House. See less